Flushing Collaborates to Provide Emergency Assistance to Elders

Community members from different backgrounds came together to launch the Flushing Food Collaborative, a pilot program to help local residents who need emergency assistance after the only food pantry in downtown Flushing was evicted by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) from the Bland Houses.

The Flushing Food Collaborative will provide emergency food assistance every Thursday at 1pm in front of the Free Synagogue of Flushing located at 136-23 Sanford Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355. Packages of food will be provided free of charge until supplies last. Anyone with questions can contact flushingfoodcollaborative@gmail.com or 718-460-5600.

“The Flushing Food Collaborative is important because hate isn’t just when someone is physically attacked,” stated Hailie Kim, coordinator of the Flushing Hate Free Zone. “Hunger is hate, and it’s a policy choice. We are showing once more through this initiative that community is the strongest antidote to hate.”

The Flushing Food Collaborative was formed by representatives from the Flushing Hate Free Zone, Minkwon Center for Community Action, the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, the Free Synagogue of Flushing, Kissena Synergy, the Flushing Interfaith Council, the First Baptist Church of Flushing,, UA3, and other community organizations.

"While the MinKwon has historically not been in the practice and experience of running a food pantry, and instead opted to support and leverage resources for existing institutions especially during the pandemic, we can not ignore the widening wealth gap and growing pockets of deep poverty that we've been seeing in Flushing, particularly with low-income immigrant communities”, stated John Park, executive director of the MinKwon Center for Community Action. “We have chosen to support and be a part of this new collaborative given recent developments to existing pantries in our area. Our appeal, on behalf of the Flushing Food Collaborative and the thousands of people experiencing food insecurity in Flushing, is that we are asking for rapid response resources including funding and food donations to address this deepening crisis, and also if there are any local sites in Flushing able and willing to host an additional food distribution line from the site."

The Flushing Food Collaborative seeks to proactively mobilize resources and organize volunteers to ensure those who are food insecure continue to receive assistance after NYCHA evicted downtown Flushing’s only food pantry.

“We proudly stand with our community as we extend ourselves in service, concern and love to lessen the burden of food insecurity in Flushing,” stated members of Kissena Synergy who came to volunteer, including Mabel Butron, Leona Chin, Peye Chin, Diana Leifels, Mimi, and Donald Han.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, neighborhood activists quickly mobilized and spent countless hours contacting other food pantries, potential funders and local businesses, as well as volunteer groups to quickly put together a new source of emergency food for residents in the area who are still suffering from COVID-related joblessness, evictions, and hyper-inflation. The Collaborative hopes to sustain this effort with support from the community.

“Government has failed our community again and it has become necessary for neighbors to step up and help neighbors again,” stated John Choe, executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce. “The City initially failed to live up its promise to protect New Yorkers during the pandemic and now it has failed us again by shutting down the only food pantry in downtown Flushing. It’s up to ordinary citizens to build solidarity and mutual aid during these difficult times because we have no one else to depend on except ourselves.”