24 DECEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 7, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Bay Ridge Cares serves close to 250
Thanksgiving meals at annual holiday give-back
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
One local non-profit continued
its tradition of giving this
Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, November 23, over
100 volunteers – children included
– helped prepare and serve Thanksgiving
meals to close to 250 neighbors
in need as part of Bay Ridge
Cares’ fourth annual Thanksgiving
give-back event.
The local organization prepared,
served and delivered traditional
Thanksgiving turkey dinners – complete
with all the fixings – to a bevy
of seniors and other local residents
at Shore Hill (9000 Shore Road). The
cooking started the day before at
Dimitrios and Georgia Kaloidis Parochial
School.
According to the volunteer group’s
president, Karen Tadross, this year’s
event was a smashing success.
“It went well considering it was a
much bigger project than last year,” she
told this paper, nothing that, this year,
volunteers themselves participated in
a large portion of the cooking needed
to serve those on their list. “It requires
a lot of coordination, much more than
we’ve been used to in the past.
All in all, she said, a record-number
of residents were served – many
of whom either couldn’t afford a
Thanksgiving dinner or simply had
no place to go.
“There’s always something we can
improve upon,” she admitted, noting
that Bay Ridge Cares hopes for
a bigger and better Thanksgiving
give-back each year, “but our goal to
feed as many people as we can was
absolutely met.”
The event’s significance, Tadross
stressed, is twofold.
“I think what makes this event such
an important one is, first, that I don’t
think a lot of people in Bay Ridge
realize the extent of people who are
actually hungry in our community,”
she said. “It shocks people. The level
of poverty and hunger in our community
is quite stunning so, in that
respect, it’s important to get the word
out there and I think this program
helps to accomplish that.”
Second, according to Tadross, is its
impact – which, she noted, touches
people on both sides of the serving
spoon.
“We have so
many wonderful
people in our
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Corazon Aguirre
community who
want to volunteer
and participate but
just don’t know how to,”
she said. “We provide that
opportunity for any and
every one to get involved.
That could be simply dropping off
a pie, actually delivering a meal or
peeling potatoes.”
Perhaps most significant, she said,
is its impression on local youth.
“That trickles down to our youth,”
she went on, “because this is one of
our few events at Bay Ridge Cares
that kids can really get involved with.
Once they do, they see the community
coming together to help others
and that sends a strong message to
our youth.”
The group’s massive serving,
she stressed, could not
be possible without
the support of the
community it calls
home.
“We could not
have done this
without the support
of so many
of our community
organizations and
merchants,” Tadross
said, noting that a bevy of
local businesses provide
Bay Ridge Cares with the
means to make their meals
at a fraction of the cost. “We couldn’t
do this without their cooperation and
their support.”
Volunteers were delighted to participate.
Serving Thanksgiving dinner.
Ann Motet and
Councilmember
Vincent Gentile.
Elizabeth Hanson. Joann Tottaro. Ursula Clark. Catherine Zeltman.