38 MARCH 9 - MARCH 15, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Bay Ridge Center to host 23rd
annual Meals on Wheels fundraiser
BY VICTORIA MERLINO
EDITORIAL@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Bay Ridge Center is advocating
for seniors once again with its
March for Meals.
Bay Ridge Center is hosting its
23rd annual March for Meals fundraiser
on Saturday, March 24, raising
awareness and funds for its home delivered
meals program in Bay Ridge,
Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and
Gravesend. There will be a kickoff
ceremony at 10:30 a.m., followed by a
three-mile march that will begin and
end at Bay Ridge Center, 411 Ovington
Avenue.
Bay Ridge Center feeds over 650
seniors a day, seven days a week,
explained Todd Fliedner, the center’s
deputy executive director. This number
is up from five years ago, when
Marchers pose for a photo during the 22nd Annual Bay Ridge Center "Marching for more than a
Meal" Walkathon.
Flea
only 400 residents received meals
each day.
“Home delivered meals are important
on so many different levels,” said
Fliedner. He said that oftentimes the
Meals on Wheels service is the only
contact with the outside world these
residents will receive. Drivers will
check in to ensure that their clients
are safe and healthy, with some drivers
even coming to the rescue of their
clients in some instances, according
to Fliedner.
Formerly known as the "Marching
for more than a Meal" Walkathon, the
event saw a name change to fit into
Meals on Wheels’ March for Meals
fundraising push, a national fundraising
effort. To coincide with this, the
event was moved from its traditional
date in fall to a date in March.
Fliedner also highlighted the
march’s ability to generate interest
in the program, explaining that it
draws in residents who may have
otherwise not have known about the
program.
“Every year after people see the
march, we get calls the next week,”
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/file photo
he said, adding later that awareness
about the program is one of the biggest
things he hopes residents will take out
of the walk.
Bay Ridge Center is taking a different
approach to fundraising this
year, starting an online fundraising
campaign to try and collect its goal
of $10,000. Fliedner said the online
campaign has been a good way to
involve more tech savvy youth in the
fundraising effort.
Bay Ridge Center has been serving
the poor and the elderly in southwest
Brooklyn since it first opened in 1976.
Currently, it has over 1,000 active
members.
View the fundraising campaign at
https://www.classy.org/campaign/
march-for-meals/c162441.
St. Dominics
2001 Bay Ridge Parkway
Market
Indoor
March 17, 2018
April 21, 2018
9am to 4pm
Over 40 Vendors
Questions Leave Voicemail at 917-498-8424
Tables $25 each
SPRING FAIR
FLEA MARKET AT
OUR LADY OF GRACE PARISH
Avenue W and East 4th Street (Veltri Hall)
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Saturday, March 17th, 11 am – 7pm
& Sunday, March 18th, 9 am – 4 pm
Saturday March 17th, 1-3 pm
Egg Hunt $5 and Pictures with the Bunny $5
Raindate: Sunday, March 18th
If you wish to be a vendor call Mary Ann,
718-376-8294