Observe & Area Athletes of St. John’s College in Queens, strike a pose on Saturday, Sept. 27 – “College Service Day” on the newly branded Neighborhood Meals Pantry Inc. in Richmond Hill. The women and coaches volunteered, bagging and serving nutritious meals to a whole bunch of residents in two classes. From left, stooping entrance, are Coach Desmond Robinson, and Board Members of Neighborhood Meals Pantry, Roger Gary, and Tony Singh.
Picture by Tangerine Clarke
As meals costs proceed to skyrocket throughout New York, increasingly more meals pantries are coming to the rescue and are dedicated to opening their doorways to serve essentially the most in-need households in communities.
Neighborhood Pantry Inc. in Richmond Hill, Queens, formally, Calvary’s Mission Meals Pantry, has rebranded its providers for the higher, stated board member Roger Gary, who joined founder, Tony Singh, each Guyanese-born, to run an environment friendly and rewarding, common Saturday hours-long distribution.
Volunteers on the 112-16 89th Ave. location, on Saturday, Sept. 27, handed out over eight hundred nutritious meals to residents who joined a line on a ‘reserved timing’ schedule to keep away from overcrowding within the neighborhood.
The road moved shortly because of further assist from the St. John’s College Purple Storm Girls’s Observe & Area staff, which volunteers thrice yearly to present again as a part of the establishment’s philosophy, which incorporates group service.
The women, decked out in signature purple sweatshirts emblazoned with the college’s insignia, prolonged salutations and interacted with households in a dignified and well mannered method. They shared veggies, pasta, fruit, and different meals gadgets to make sure everybody left with a hefty bag of groceries.
Singh welcomed and thanked the athletes for volunteering and reminded them that the pantry serves the working poor. “Individuals are working, but meals insecurity is actual. You might be in school, you perceive cash is tight, and once you will be of service to somebody going by way of arduous instances, it’s an excellent factor,” he stated. “Now we have been serving nutritious meals on this group each week for over 25 years. In the present day, we served roughly 800 households, and moms with their infants.”
“It has been superb since you really feel good when you’ll be able to give again; it’s great. The Bible says it’s a blessing to present somewhat than to obtain. When any person offers you one thing and also you obtain it, you obtain it in love, and that’s what we attempt to do.”
“We give individuals meals with love, so once they come by way of right here, we don’t need them to really feel like they’re begging; we wish them to know that that is one thing that we’re doing with a smile and with the love of God,” stated Singh.
Head Coach Guyanese American Olympic Champion Aliann Pompey, who continues to assemble a top-level teaching employees, in response to St. John’s Director of Athletics Mike Cragg, applauded the athletes for volunteering, including that she was pleased with the women.
She stated St. John’s permits her to interact the athletes in volunteerism, which performs an enormous half within the athletics division’s efforts to present again to the communities that they belong to.
The ladies volunteered in two classes. The primary set of 20 bagged veggies for the purchasers, whereas the second set 20 stuffed out the purchasers’ buying playing cards.
“We volunteer with Neighborhood Pantry. The ladies present up very early. Your entire staff of 40 is right here. I am the pinnacle coach and personally answerable for the sprinters and hurdlers. Now we have different coaches who maintain different occasions,” stated Pompey.
“I am extraordinarily pleased with the ladies; they’re very dedicated to the work we do on the sector, in our communities, and within the classroom,” she shared.
Lexia Robinson, a Jamaican native and Athletics Throws Coach, stated, “In the present day is our college service day, so we determined to come back out to volunteer. We sometimes come right here about 3 times per 12 months. It’s an incredible alternative. I feel our ladies profit the group as a result of St. John’s College is in Queens, so why not assist and provides again to the group? As part of the staff, we at all times give again to the group to assist the much less lucky.”
“We additionally do some exercises with particular wants people. That is an exercise I like to take part in. The ladies get to interact with the group and meet new individuals. We at all times get pleasure from being right here,” stated Robinson.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines nationwide, Desmond Robinson, an assistant coach at St. John’s, and a former athlete, who started his profession whereas in graduate college, has been coaching college students in sprints and jumps for the final 4 years.
A graduate of New York Institute of Know-how (NYIT), Robinson stated he started teaching after Pompey, whom he had recognized for a few years, wanted a dash coach and reached out to him.
“I additionally coached at Lengthy Island College for about 9 years prior,” stated Robinson, who considers himself a medium-level coach.
“I lived in New York from age 13, so I didn’t begin observe and discipline till my sophomore 12 months of faculty. Since then, I’ve been teaching in observe and discipline.”
“I feel it’s at all times vital to present again to the group, as a result of generally you by no means know the way privileged you might be till you come out and see the group that wants assist.”
It places issues into perspective for the athletes by letting them know that they’re lucky. Lots of them are on scholarships, so they’re generally not conscious of how lucky they’re.
“Being a collegiate athlete, you typically overlook that not all people has that chance, regardless that they’re athletes and may earn a scholarship. There are individuals on the market who don’t have that sort of alternative to maneuver ahead in life and be capable of assist in some type or style, stated Robinson, including that lots of the college students he’s at the moment teaching will probably be graduating in 2026.
The scholars wrote in an Instagram submit, “Proud to spend College Service Day giving again at Neighborhood Pantry — teamwork doesn’t cease on the observe or discipline; it extends into our group.”
