Public Employee Press

Unionists spread holiday joy
School workers feed needy families on Staten Island

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Thanksgiving is a celebration of bounty, but for an increasing number of New Yorkers it's a grim reminder of spreading poverty.

For Sion Nelson, a Cook and Local 372 shop steward at P.S. 18 on Staten Island, it's a chance to take action and help those in need.

"Our community is made up of working families whose children attend our school," she said. "When one or both parents lose their jobs, what are they to do?"

Nelson, Assistant Cook Fred Betzold and School Lunch Helpers Karen DiAngelo and Terri Hoffman prep, cook and serve 900 healthy meals a day for students at their Stapleton elementary school.

Every day they see the faces of hunger.

And every year they confront the problem with a mission of kindness to give a happy holiday to families in need. Starting in October, the four buy sale items at a local supermarket, putting aside canned goods, healthy juices, rice and beans.

"We scrape together our pennies and clean out our kitchen cabinets at home. Before you know it, we've got enough to help other families have Thanksgiving," Nelson said. And they do it again for Christmas.

By spending over $300 on groceries, they earn the free turkeys and hams they box up with fresh and packaged foods for the pantries and holiday tables of some of Stapleton's neediest students and their families.

While these generous Local 372 members have the support of their principal, they don't take up collections or solicit donations, and they are careful to keep school food supplies separate from their boxes.

This Thanksgiving they helped three local families, including one where the mom was laid off in June and her husband in September, and a family of five who recently lost their dad, who was the sole breadwinner.

"Hunger is a significant issue in this neighborhood," said Nelson. "Children can't learn when they're hungry. We stand between these children and the budget cuts."

Many of the families qualify for Food Stamps, and the Dept. of Education has designated P.S. 18 a universal school where every child eats free, but the school meals are the only food some children get.

Fighting hunger

"We know who is fed at home and which kids come to school hungry after a long weekend," Hoffman said, "because we've become their friends."

New York City is one of the world's wealthiest, but more than ever in recent history, working-class and middle-class parents are lining up with their children at neighborhood soup kitchens and food pantries. As high unemployment persists, donations to food banks shrink and more families go hungry.

"I once heard President Obama say the greatest thing we could do to help him was to help others, and that inspires me," Nelson said. "Having the power to feed others is an awesome way to contribute to our community and our future."