Thanksgiving is a time for a lot of things: family togetherness, hackneyed jokes about your family being soooo weird, football, turducken, Alice’s Restaurant. But there are plenty of people out there who aren’t as lucky as we are. So if you have some time to donate or have some shady tax stuff to take care of and want to give some money, here are some opportunities to give back.
Prepare and Serve a buffet-style Thanksgiving dinner for 60-80
Greenpoint Reformed Church, 136 Milton St. (between Franklin St. and Manhattan Ave.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn (718-383-5941)
Wednesday, November 21
Volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. to distribute food pantry food and prep for Thanksgiving eve dinner. Dinner is served from 6pm to 7pm. Contact Ann Kansfield, pastor@greenpointchurch.org
Helping with Thanksgiving Day dinner
The Church of the Ascension, 127 Kent (between Franklin St. and Manhattan ave.) Greenpoint
Volunteers are needed from 6:30pm – 8pm Thanksgiving week (Monday-Wednesday) to prep food for Thanksgiving dinner and 8am – 7pm to help with food prep and setting up the dinner, as well as clean-up afterwards, Thursday, Novemeber 22. Call the church (718) 389-3831 to volunteer
Sponsor a Thanksgiving meal with a tax-deductible donation
Neighbors Together 2094 Fulton St at Thomas Boyland St, Bedford-Stuyvesant, (718-498-725)
Donate anytime between now and November 21st, contact Denny Marsh, denny@neighborstogether.org
You can donate money to FeedingNYC so they can provide a family with a Thanksgiving box. The box comes with whole turkey, stuffing, canned vegetables and dessert. Each box is $35, and you can donate enough for up to five at a time.
Thanksgiving for Sandy Survivors
St. Marks Church, 131 East 10th Street (10th Street Between 2nd & 3rd, Manhattan)
Thursday, November 22, 1pm-4pm
The crazy unbelievably effective kids from Occupy are having a Thanksgiving dinner, free of charge, for any Sandy survivors that still don’t have power, gas or heat. If you’d like to donate your time or supplies, check out their WePay page.
There’s also the Food Bank for New York City, which runs food distribution programs every day in all five boroughs. They have a handy calendar that allows you sign up for any of their programs, many of which are currently focusing on disaster relief.