Help for the holidays in Long Beach

“We’re going to need more turkeys,” volunteer Tiffany Streeter said as food and other items were being given out to those in need at the Martin Luther King Center on a bustling Tuesday afternoon — just hours before a large Thanksgiving gathering at the facility.

“It could be people who don’t have any family who come to celebrate with us,” Streeter said of those who stopped by the center for a Thanksgiving meal. “It makes you feel good to know that we can provide for families in need. We’re looking to serve a good 200 families.”

The effort was part of an MLK Center program called Bags of Hope, organized by Long Beach resident Debora Staiano, MLK Center board Chairman James Hodge and others with the purpose of providing the less fortunate with non-perishable food and other items.

The program was started in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when Hodge and other volunteers delivered food and supplies to seniors and other residents who were stuck in high-rise buildings as power outages disrupted elevator service for weeks.

“After Sandy, we knew that a lot of families needed support, and we decided to move forward with that, and it just started to get bigger and bigger and we continued every year,” Staiano said. “We have some seniors that can’t even get out of their house for Thanksgiving and they’re alone. When we first started, after Sandy, the elevators weren’t working, so we would deliver food and we’d bring it up. We’d go door to door and bring them food.”

About 50 volunteers assisted in Tuesday’s effort, including members of the Marine Corps and the Long Beach Civil Service Employees Association.
“Now it’s a little different, but we feed over 200 families each year from all over Long Beach,” Staiano added.

Those who picked up the bags ranged from the homeless to those who have lost jobs, Staiano and Hodge explained. “We had one woman call and her husband just lost his job, and she’s not mobile,” Staiano said. “They have three kids, and they reached out and we’re delivering to them tonight. We have seniors that we deliver to, and we serve all over Long Beach, from the West End to the East End, North Park, everywhere.”

The bags the volunteers prepared included turkeys and all the Thanksgiving trimmings. The bags themselves are recyclable, and were donated by All Our Energy, a local nonprofit that promotes renewable energy. Others who donated ranged from the Long Beach Professional Firefighters and the Long Beach Teachers Association to the Lions Club and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

“The firefighters donated $600 worth of turkeys,” Staiano said.
Hodge said that more than 400 people turned out for the dinner. “People told us that it really helped them out,” he said. “There were people who were homeless that came, some in the Latino and African-American community, and folks from the shelters came. One guy said that he was happy to get a hot meal because he can’t cook a turkey because he lives in a shelter. And then there were the guys who live under the [Long Beach] bridge.”

He added, “And I think that some people don’t recognize that there are a lot of people who look like they may not be in need. Some people are going through some hard times, and we try to be there for them and give them some sense of peace and comfort.”