This Thanksgiving, I am deeply grateful to be part of the wonderful community here in Greenpoint. It is an honor to celebrate the work and legacy of Christine Zounek, a beloved Greenpoint resident who passed away in 2014. In September, Milton Street was co-named for Christine. Christine was head chef and guiding light at The Greenpoint Church Hunger Program, located at 136 Milton Street, now, appropriately, Christine Zounek Way.
The Hunger Program, a volunteer-based organization, serves dinner Wednesday evenings from 6 – 7pm, and runs a food pantry Thursday mornings from 8 – 11am. The Program serves over 800 people every month, and welcomes between 60 and 80 people every week for the community meal. The program and its volunteers “work really hard to provide the most delicious free meal you’ll ever eat. Our chefs are top-notch, and they take pride in serving gourmet food to everyone who comes through our doors.”
Christine Zounek was instrumental in making that meal delicious and special. According to Pastor Ann Kansfield of the Greenpoint Reform Church, Christine was involved with the program, “almost from the start,” when the church began running the soup kitchen in 2007. Each week “she made meals infused with love and care,” and “was an integral part of feeding our neighbors” for seven years. Continue reading →
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to get more involved with Greenpoint’s vibrant volunteer community? Here are five ways you can help a hardworking neighborhood volunteer program, the Greenpoint Church Hunger Program on Milton Street, to feed the folks who need a warm meal on these cold winter days.
1. Volunteer in the kitchen on a Wednesday evening between 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m and recreate that winter soup you love to Instagram. You can cook, set up, serve and/or clean, and you don’t have to show up at 3:00 p.m. If you have a day job, show up after work to see how you can help. Continue reading →
A $60 ticket includes an amazing three-course meal with unlimited wine from Dandelion Wine and beer by Sixpoint. Veggies are from the community garden and meat comes from Sun Fed Beef in upstate NY (and there will be a wonderful veggie option for non meat-eaters).
The meal will be prepared by two talented local chefs : Caroline Fidanza owner of Saltie, the cult Williamsburg sandwich shop, and Millicent Souris, who has cooked at Egg, Roebling Tea Room and the Queen’s Hideaway. Both chefs have published their own cookbooks and regularly contribute to Diner Journal. Continue reading →
Do you have a voice that clears a bar during karaoke but you always wanted to sing in a church choir? Take a hint and ring some bells instead.
Greenpoint Reformed Church is starting a Greenpoint-style handbell choir. If you’ve always wanted to participate in a musical ensemble playing beautiful music on magical bells – come out on for an informational meeting this Sunday 6/22 at Greenpoint Church (136 Milton St) at 12:3pm0. Beginners welcome – all you need to know is how to ring a bell! They’ll start with easy songs, then work up to THIS….Tchaikovsky – whatever.
Let’s share the love of this holiday giving season by donating toys to children who don’t get elaborate visits from Mr. Claus on Christmas. Donate an unwrapped toy for infants to teenagers at Greenpoint Church (126 Milton St) starting on Wednesdays from 4-7pm and Thursdays from 8am-noon through 12/12.
Isn’t it nice to sit around and stuff your face? This is every American’s God-given right on Thanksgiving! Sadly some people don’t eat anything today – including many people in Greenpoint.
So let’s keep ALL of our neighbors full and plump this Thanksgiving, too. That’s what it’s all about, right? Sharing and caring…
If you make one click on your computer today – consider making a donation in ANY amount – $5, $10 to Greenpoint Soup Kitchen, a local non-profit that feeds the hungry not just on Thanksgiving but every week of the year!
Last year I sat in a community meeting at Greenpoint Church on Milton St and listened to neighbors argue for and against the 10 bed homeless respite that had opened in the basement after Hurricane Sandy hit and the weather was getting down to freezing temperatures.
After the controversy it created, the church decided to shut it down and it moved to Ascension Church a few block north. But the respite did not reopen this winter season. Continue reading →
Each first Sunday of the month we have a Sunday Supper at a new location in Greenpoint with a new chef and each first Sunday Supper of the month I am nervous! There is a lot to do and a lot of unknowns. Like will it rain? Do we have enough utensils? Will the chef be on time?
Sunday Supper #7 was particularly more stressful because I was the chef and I suffer from Food Anxiety – which is a clinical neurological condition that involves worrying about making enough food for your guests. One of the symptoms is making way too much food! Everyone in my entire crazy family has this problem – it’s a genetic mutation on the Sicilian strand of DNA I inherited from my father Rocco. Continue reading →
It’s alarming and disheartening to receive daily emails, tweets and facebook messages from Greenpoint residents who are scared because of the recent violent events that have taken place in the area, including a rape, a missing woman and yesterday’s pistol whipping in broad daylight.
Tomorrow – Tuesday August 13, 2013 at 7pm there will be an Anti-Violence Project Training (AVP) at Greenpoint Reformed Church (136 Milton St) on street safety and hate violence. If you identify as a woman or an LGBTQ person, make sure to attend.
AVP’s “trainings and workshops provide participants with information on the impact of hate motivated violence, safety planning strategies, tips on preventing or reducing the impact of violence, information on how to create LGBTQH [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV+] inclusive organizations, and how to support the needs of LGBTQ survivors of violence.”
For more information visit www.avp.org and feel free to email cb at greenpointchurch.org with any questions about the event.
