CORONA — In 2023, soup kitchens were overwhelmed following a year of people being bused from Texas to New York amid the U.S. immigration crisis. Suddenly, Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Corona, Queens, was on the front lines.  

“The number of asylum seekers, refugees, and new immigrants is growing every day, every day,” said the pastor, Father Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez in 2024. “So, you see more people coming, more people in need of food.” 

The church opened its doors to the newcomers in September 2023 and began feeding dozens of people each week at the soup kitchen and every month at the food pantry.  

Within a year, the parish’s Father Felix Varela Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen served people lining up through the parking lot and down the block. Some arrived as early as 7 a.m. and waited until 3 p.m. for the doors to open.  

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But the parish soon had a powerful ally when Sister Caroline Tweedy at St. John’s Bread and Life in Brooklyn saw a news report about the food pantry and soup kitchen. 

“We saw this piece that Currents News did on Our Lady of Sorrows and the fact that they were really reaching out into the community to serve the newly arrived and especially the people in the community who were struggling,” Sister Caroline said. “And we said, ‘You know, this is what we do every day. How can we partner with them to make a difference?’ ” 

St. John’s Bread and Life started supplying more food to the Queen’s parish — enough to feed 300 more people. This aid helped the pantry open its doors for a second day every month. 

Father Rodríguez said the partnership was “a sign from God.” 

He added, “Sister Caroline and the team — her amazing team at St. John’s Bread and Life — they became aware about the goodness of this initiative, actually through our wonderful media connection with our currents and DeSales.” 

Sister Caroline and Father Rodríguez have said they believe the pantry will continue to have a significant reach in Corona. 

“I think that this helps,” Father Rodríguez said, “not only the families who receive the food, but everyone, because when people are hungry in a community, bad things happen. Crime rates skyrocket, people get agitated, more violence takes place.” 

“Our hope,” Sister Caroline said, “is that we can continue to make that grow so that there’s less of a reliance on the parish community itself.”