On Nov. 18, CCBQ hosted its ninth annual turkey drive, which received about 700 more birds than last year. CCBQ President and CEO Msgr. Alfred LoPinto said the combination of the organization’s renovated resource center and a new distribution system that has parishes pick up and distribute the turkeys and chickens themselves are welcome changes to this year’s drive.
As a holiday personified by bounty-laden dishes on dinner tables, the Thanksgiving season can be difficult for the thousands of New Yorkers facing food hardship. In response to their need, one local nonprofit provided more than 600 hot meals at four northern Brooklyn locations this week.
Many families in need will be having a turkey for Thanksgiving, despite the high price for the bird — nearly $2 per pound according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (73% higher than last year) — thanks to Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens, which distributed free turkeys at Holy Innocents Church in Flatbush, on Monday, Nov. 21.
While Christmas celebrates the birth of our Lord, Thanksgiving is the time to share valuable moments with family and loved ones we hold dear while enjoying turkey, cornbread, and homemade apple pie, and thanking God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.
With many people out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families are struggling to put together Thanksgiving meals. But religious organizations are working to supply families with turkeys to make the holiday a happy one despite the economic uncertainty.
We all know that this year our Thanksgiving will not be what we have normally experienced, no parades, perhaps limited football, smaller dinners, and less interaction with our most beloved family members. But we still must give thanks. As we look back over the past year, for what can we give thanks?
Thanksgiving and Sept. 11 are linked together at an annual Mass Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, holds close to Thanksgiving every year, a liturgy that honors the 17 alumni who died during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Thanksgiving Day is the closest we come to having a “religious” secular holiday. Although it is a government-proclaimed holiday, it is a time for prayer and for reflection on all the good things that we enjoy as Americans. It is a time when we can legitimately thank God for all the good that He has bestowed upon this nation.
The turkey giveaway, held every year in one parish in Brooklyn and one in Queens, is sponsored by CCBQ and some local businesses. This year, 700 turkeys, canned goods and Thanksgiving meal fixings were distributed to families in need.
Carol Donnelly, principal of St. Mark’s Catholic Academy in Sheepshead Bay, poses with students following their recent Thanksgiving food drive. Here, some of the eighth graders and early childhood students prepare to deliver the donations across the street to St. Mark’s parish food pantry.
