More than 800 New Yorkers wearing face masks and practicing social distancing waited in the rain on Friday for a food pantry distribution.
The event in Brooklyn hosted at St. Michael-St. Malachy Church by Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens was held a day after the US Labor Department reported that there are now at least 26 million Americans who have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus outbreak began.
‘It was a lot of unemployed people. It’s always a good feeling to help someone else in need,’ Barbara Garcia, the church’s business manager told DailyMail.com.
More than 800 New Yorkers wearing masks waited in the rain in Brooklyn on Friday for a food pantry distribution
The event in Brooklyn was hosted by Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens
Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens has noticed an increase in demand across its 20 parish-based food pantries. A man walks away with boxes of donations and sacks of food
A National Guardsman loads food into a van at the curbside food pantry hosted by Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens
People are seen wearing protective face masks as they receive free food at a pantry in Brooklyn on Friday
A pantry worker wearing a Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens shirt is pictured during the food distribution
Because of the rain, the food drive started a half hour earlier. Garcia said more than 800 donations of fresh fruit, vegetables, canned goods and soup were given away.
‘It was a wonderful blessing,’ Garcia said. ‘Whoever needed it, they got it.’
Catholic Charities, which on average distributes 83,000 meals per month from within its pantry network has witnessed the impact of the pandemic on New Yorkers.
It says demand has increased across its 20 parish-based food pantries. It has specifically seen an uptick in demand for hot meals from isolated seniors.
Catholic Charities also has held ‘grab-and-go’ style events providing bags of food that will feed a family of three for three days.
A woman carries out a shopping bag of food while wearing a face ask and parka hood at the pantry event
A pantry worker wears a protective shield and gloves as he offers bread to those who came to the pantry
A pantry worker seen wearing blue gloves holds offers fresh sandwich bread to those who came to the pantry
A man who entered the pantry had used a black plastic as a raincoat to cover himself, in addition to wearing a mask for protection against COVID-19
Green bags of food were lined up on tables during the food pantry distribution. A woman takes one of the bags on her way out
A woman wearing a face mask and gloves sorts through sacks of fresh vegetables at the food pantry distribution
Across the country, there have been 894,774 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which has been blamed for 50,478 deaths
There have been close to 141,800 cases in New York City of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for more than 5,100 deaths.
New York State, the nation’s epicenter for the pandemic, has seen 271,590 confirmed cases and 16,162 deaths.
Across the country, there have been 894,774 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which has been blamed for 50,478 deaths.
Emergency personnel from the Archdiocese of New York also gave away boxes of rubber gloves outside the pantry
Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens also has held ‘grab-and-go’ style events providing bags of food that will feed a family of three for three days. A man wearing a mask and covering himself with a plastic bag is seen leaving Friday’s event
Earlier this month, hundreds of people lined up outside the Bowery Mission homeless center for a free Easter Sunday meal.
People were similarly seen lining up along the block outside the mission, many of them wearing hats, masks and gloves and practicing social distancing, as they waited for a hot meal.
The homeless center has served the needs of the city’s poor and hungry who arrive to its iconic red doors since the 1870’s.