Monday, January 20, 2025
With the holiday season’s arrival, Lakeview resident Chris Tucker recognizes the importance of giving back, emphasizing these charitable acts with his annual drives and donations of turkeys, clothes, toys and more to his community year-round.
Tucker’s annual turkey drive this year took place at Harold Walker Memorial Park, from 3 to 6 p.m., on Nov. 24. The location is a staple for this event due to its accessibility. The drive helped feed 35 families this year, a slight increase from 30 during last year’s event.
“We want to make things easier for people,” Tucker said. “We provide food and clothes. We have a softball game each spring to bring people together every year. Food and entry to the game is always free. The softball teams sell jerseys, which can amount to about $1,000 to be distributed throughout the community. A lot of times people don’t have, so if you just provide, they don’t have to ask. That way you take pride out of it.”
This year’s turkey drive took place at Harold Walker Memorial Park, form 3 – 6 p.m., on Nov. 24. The location is a staple for this event due to its accessibility.
Tucker and his friend, Michael Walker, got together to form the Family Love Foundation, a nonprofit designed to make a difference in their neighborhood. The foundation is based in Lakeview and they offer food and clothing to people. They are working to put together public health clinics in 2025.
Though they have a full staff at the Family Love Foundation, the turkey drive is done on Tucker’s own accord — it’s one of his personal grassroots endeavors that will get done with or without helping hands.
The Family Love Foundation has been around for at least a decade, but the foundation became official by way of an LLC for the first time this year. LLC stands for limited liability company. It’s a business structure that allows owners certain protections and solidifies the business as legit. Even with staff in their corner, Tucker and Walker, who’s the acting president, handle most of the foundation’s community outreach.
They have known each other for about 35 years, and have worked together for the last eight years. Growing up, the pair attended Malverne High School, where they first met.
The near decade-long tradition of the foundation’s softball game started with a barbecue. Michael Walker, also of Lakeview, organized an annual cookout and softball game for the neighborhood to enjoy. He then decided to make it into a charity.
“I do it to help the community,” Walker said. “I came from poverty myself. So I try to give back and help others.”
Walker has been organizing events like this for over a quarter century.
Tucker credited two people in his life for his interest in humanitarianism — his late friend Esquire Dent, who coached youth football, and his mother Earnestine Tucker Jackson, who fed everybody. Tucker doesn’t describe himself as a researcher of food insecurity, but rather an observer of his own community.
“I knew just by watching,” Tucker said. “When you just pay attention to your area, you see what’s needed.”
According to health.ny.gov, approximately one in four adults in New York State experience food insecurity. Within New York State, the percentage of adults who report that they are food insecure varies by county and ranges from 11.2 percent to 39 percent.
Adults experiencing food insecurity have a higher probability of several chronic diseases, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, asthma, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease, the report indicated.
According to worlhealthreview.org, Lakeview has a 2024 population of 5,992. Lakeview is currently growing at a rate of 0.45% annually. The average household income in Lakeview is $152,529 with a poverty rate of 15.42%.
Community members as very aware of the work these two men are doing to provide for them. Walker and Tucker promote their events heavily on social media.
As such, the turnout is pretty large for this duo’s events. A reported 50 or so folks attend the drives annually, but the softball game usually sees 150-200 bodies in the stands. All of these things are done in the name of charity, and promoting a sense of togetherness in Lakeview.
