When a supermarket manager in the Bronx expressed his concerns about food insecurity in the area, he talked to his boss and they decided to join in with community leaders to donate food to the residents. “It’s getting really bad. It’s getting to the point where residents from my community, from my building, have resorted to having to steal food from local market,” shared Lattina Brown, local community leader and candidate for city council. She added, “we don’t want people to get arrested for trying to survive.”
Members of TBS New Direction (The Black Spades) joined religious leaders as well as employees of the Food Fair supermarket to give away food outside of the Hunts Point Avenue train station on Good Friday.
“We just try to do the best we can to let people know we care, ” said Marion “Tiny” Frampton, ex-gang member and founder of TBS – New Direction, an anti-violence mentoring program.
“I know how it feel to be hungry, I know how it feels to be without a job, I know how it feels to be out here without a place to sleep. So when somebody else is going through it, I like to come out and show empathy and give back to the community,“ said K-Born Rivers, president of I Am My Community Inc.
Several pallets of food were provided by the company Hungry Mother and Food Fair supermarket provided manpower, water, and canned foods
People lined up to receive the food and little Easter baskets were given to the kids.
The group set up the giveaway and began handing out food around 12:30, the food was nearly gone 2 hours later.
“I go home with a feeling that I’ve never had before. Knowing that a lot of people are sitting down to a good meal tonight” said Eddie Gonzalez, a manager at Food Fair Market.
