The BroadsheetDAILY – 5/18/22 – Trinity Church Responds to Rising Local Hunger with Compassion Meals Program

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The Aliment of Surprise

Trinity Church Responds to Rising Local Hunger with Compassion Meals Program

Above: Trinity Church (located at Broadway and Wall Street) is one of nine food distribution sites in Lower Manhattan at which the Church provides meals to those in need, six days per week. Below: The Church has ramped up its food assistance in Lower Manhattan, from 15,000 meals in 2019 to more than 230,000 in 2021. While Trinity funds the purchase of all provisions required for these meals, volunteers are needed to help pack and distribute them.

Trinity Church has resurrected its Compassion Meals program, which provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner to those in need, on a rotating schedule, six days per week. The Church has always provided food help, reflects Lorelei Atalie Vargas, Trinity’s Chief Community Impact Officer. “But during the pandemic, when rates of food insecurity started to rise, we took a data-driven look at communities where food was a problem, particularly those where pantries had closed.” This translated into a huge jump in Trinity’s food assistance program, which distributed 15,000 meals through the Church’s Brown Bag Lunch program in 2019—a figure that jumped to 162,000 meals in 2020, and more than 230,000 last year.

In 2021, Trinity also launched its Neighborhood Support Initiative, which targets communities south of 14th Street. “Our goal is to focus on child, family, and community well-being,” says Ms. Vargas. “We are committed to co-designing everything alongside the communities we serve.” This emphasis has led Trinity to convene a Neighborhood Council, comprised of people who live, work, attend school, own businesses, or run not-for-profits in Lower Manhattan. Guided by the deliberations of this panel, Trinity’s food outreach program has partnered with six schools and two community-based organizations in Lower Manhattan, and now distributes meals through nine different sites south of 14th Street.

“We provide regular shipments of groceries to those nine places, where volunteers pack food and then distribute groceries,” Ms. Vargas notes, adding that Trinity Church itself (located at Broadway and Wall Street) is one of the distribution sites. “At Trinity, we are providing a combination of groceries and meals, as a continuation of the former Brown Bag program,” she says. Lunches are currently available at Trinity Church Monday through Saturday, while breakfasts are distributed Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. “We are also starting to pilot to-go dinners once per month on Fridays,” she explains. “This program provides groceries, as well as a to-go meals. Our goal is to offer this weekly by September.”

In addition to daily and weekly meals, Trinity also offers “holiday big packs,” which Ms. Vargas says are, “based on the need for joy, to allow people to bring friends and family together to break bread. For Easter, we partnered with seven additional sites in Lower Manhattan to provide Easter dinner with all the fixings to 1,800 recipients. We plan to do this again for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

While Trinity fully funds the purchase of all provisions required for these meals, volunteers are needed to help pack and distribute them. “We welcome anyone who is willing to help,” Ms. Vargas says. “Volunteers do not have to be Trinity parishioners. We encourage anyone who wants to volunteer to visit the Trinity website, and learn more about how they can sign up to help. We need people who can pack lunches, and distribute breakfast and lunch on each day. We also need holiday volunteers, and people who are willing to help with grocery distribution.”

“The perception about hunger not being an issue as the economy recovers from the pandemic is mistaken,” Ms. Vargas observes, adding that a new report from City Harvest (New York’s largest food-rescue organization) recently found that local child hunger and food insecurity remains 55 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels. “In New York City, one in four children does not know where their next meal will come from. In 2020, families with incomes in the lowest quintile spent 27.1 percent of their income on food. When you consider that single moms of children under the age of five disproportionately comprise families in this quintile, and in the Lower East Side, single parents contribute 78 percent of their household income for childcare, it leaves you wondering—how do our families pay for housing, transportation, clothing and other basic necessities? The cost burden of basic living in New York City is overwhelming for our low-income neighbors.”

Matthew Fenton

Fleeing Heliopolis

Nadler Sponsors Legislation to Clip Wings of Whirlybirds

Congressman Jerry Nadler has introduced federal legislation to address safety and noise pollution concerns caused by non-essential helicopter flights over New York, which have emerged as chronic source of irritation for Lower Manhattan residents in recent years. At a Sunday press conference held alongside the East River’s 34th Street Heliport, Mr. Nadler (flanked by fellow Congress members Carolyn B. Maloney and Nydia Velazquez, who are co-sponsoring his proposed law), said, “for decades, New Yorkers have been plagued by excess helicopter noise and have had their lives put in danger by non-essential flights. Despite numerous requests by my colleagues and I, the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] has refused to sufficiently act to keep our skies and our City safe.”

Packet Racket

Survey Data Shows Ferry Ridership Became More Moneyed and Monochrome During Pandemic

Ridership polls compiled by the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) indicate that during 2021, the median income for riders of the NYC Ferry service jumped to between $100,000 and $149,000. At the same time, the percentage of riders who self-identify as races other than white (or categorize themselves as mixed race) dipped to less than one-third.

New Community Garden Downtown

Chefs for Impact Open Garden to Teach Sustainability

Children squirmed through the speeches on May 9 for the opening of the Chefs for Kids community garden at Grand St. Settlement on the Lower East Side. After the program, while an assortment of elected officials and community leaders chatted, the kids checked out the good-smelling soil and peppered Chief Chef Educator Kristina Ramos (above) with questions. Any squirmy things in there?

The garden, an initiative from Chefs for Impact—a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness for a more sustainable food system—will give community members hands-on experience in learning about sustainably-grown food.

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Alluvion Alarm

Federal Report Foresees Rising Water in Lower Manhattan

A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal scientific agency responsible for study of oceans, major waterways, and the atmosphere, predicts that Lower Manhattan will face increasingly frequent flooding in the decades to come.

CALENDAR

Wednesday, May 18

10am-12pm

Rector Park East

Observe and sketch the human figure. Each week a model will strike short and long poses for participants to draw. An artist/educator will offer constructive suggestions and critique. Drawing materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media. Free.

2pm-4pm

Elements of Nature Drawing

Wagner Park

Embolden your artwork amidst the flower-filled and seasonally evolving palette of BPC’s verdant gardens. An artist/ educator will provide ideas and instruction. Materials provided. Free.

6pm-7pm

Rockefeller Park House

Immerse yourself in this meditative practice- surrounded by the Hudson’s peaceful aura. Strengthen the body and cultivate awareness in a relaxed environment as your instructor guides you through alignments and poses. All levels are welcome. Bring your own mat. Free.

6:30pm

40 Rector Street

Experience a literati salon (文人雅集) inspired by ancient traditions, and enjoy an evening of classical music, poetry, calligraphy—and wine! Attendees will enjoy performances and an unforgettable cultural experience that promotes solidarity, friendship and peace. At China’s traditional “literati salons,” scholars connected with nature, art, and music while sipping tea and wine. At the most famous of these events, the Orchid Pavilion Gathering (兰亭雅集) in the year 353, 42 gentlemen held a famous drinking contest, in which they floated their rice-wine cups down a winding creek as they sat along its banks. Whenever a cup stopped, the man closest to the cup had to empty it and write a poem. In the end, they produced 37 poems and Wang Xizhi (王羲之 produced Preface to the Poems of the Orchid Pavilion (《兰亭集序》）, the finest calligraphic art in China’s history. The event has since fueled inspiration for all forms of Chinese art. Tea and wine will be served. $10.

8pm

Pier 17

Concert. With special guest Creed Bratton.

Thursday, May 19

12:30pm

Online

Virtual, interactive workshop. Learn how to ramp up your voice, value or visibility to create career outcomes you deserve—without being an extrovert or overworking. Free. From the Downtown Alliance.

3pm

Historic Battery Park

Take a kid-friendly tour of The Battery Urban Farm to learn about how we grow produce in the heart of downtown New York City. Free

5pm

Museum of Jewish Heritage

The Museum’s exhibition, Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try centers around the “War Series” of the artist and Holocaust survivor Boris Lurie. However, Lurie is not the only artist who has chronicled war and tragedy. Others such as Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, Francisco Goya, Otto Dix, and Käthe Kollwitz also used art to illustrate their feelings about war, famine, and other tragedies. Join the Museum for a program about these artists and their work to celebrate the launch of the catalogue of Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try. The exhibition’s curator Sara Softness will be in conversation with artist Molly Crabapple about these different artists and where Lurie’s work fits into this long tradition. Free; suggested $10 donation.

6:30pm

Zoom lecture

Fraunces Tavern Museum

In this lecture, Mary Sarah Bilder looks to the 1780s, the Age of the Constitution, to investigate the rise of a radical new idea in the English-speaking world: female genius. Bilder will discuss Eliza Harriot Barons O’Connor, a path-breaking female educator who delivered a University of Pennsylvania lecture that was attended by George Washington as he and other members of the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia. Free.

7pm

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of Summer and a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 at The Millions, LitHub, and The Rumpus. Sharp, heartfelt, and cathartic, The Year of the Horses captures a woman’s journey out of depression and the horses that guide her, physically and emotionally, on a new path forward.

Friday, May 20

7pm-8:30pm

Wagner Park

Singer/songwriter Terre Roche leads this weekly singing program with the beautiful backdrop of the setting sun in NY Harbor. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned crooner, the singing circle is perfect for mellow melodies and healthy harmonizing. Free

7:30pm

Pier 17

Concert.

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Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am-3pm (compost program: Saturdays, 8am-1pm)

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Broadway & Whitehall St

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8am-5pm (compost program: 8am-11am)

The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market

91 South Street, between Fulton & John Streets

Indoor market: Monday through Saturday,11:30am-5pm

CSA pick-up: Thursday, 4pm-6pm; Friday, 11:30-5pm

Outdoor market: Saturday 11:30am-5pm, May through Thanksgiving

Today in History

May 18

Nineteenth century poster for Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth, which opened on this day in 1881.

37 – The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius’s will and proclaims Caligula emperor.

1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake

1541 – Hernando de Soto observes the first recorded flood in America, at the Mississippi River

1673 – Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers

1835 – Charles Darwin departs from Santiago, Chile, on his way to Portillo Pass

1881 – Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth opens

1891 – Britain is linked to the continent by telephone

1899 – Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, is discovered

1902 – Turkey grants a German syndicate the first concession to construct a railroad through Turkish territory to Baghdad, to be linked to Berlin

1922 – British magistrates in India sentence Mahatma Gandhi to 6 years imprisonment for disobedience

1922 – The first public celebration of bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City

1937 – The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre outside Milan

1961 – Poppin’ Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced

1965 – Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found near the Pyramid of Giza

1990 – Largest ever art robbery at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. 13 works valued over $500 million are stolen

Births

1927 – George Plimpton, journalist (d. 2003)

1932 – John Updike, poet/novelist (d. 2009)

1960 – Yannick Noah

1970 – Tina Fey

Deaths

235 – Marcus Aurelius Alexander, Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), murdered

1584 – Ivan IV [Ivan the Terrible], Russian tsar (1547-84), dies at 53

1845 – John Chapman, [Johnny Appleseed], American pioneer agronomist

1997 – Willem de Kooning (abstract artist), dead of Alzheimer’s at 92

2017 – Roger Ailes, 77

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