Thursday Food Distribution @ Bliss Plaza
Every Thursday at 1:30pm, we are part of a free food distribution at Bliss Plaza (46th St. and Queens Blvd, under the 7 train).
This distribution is the fruit of creative partnership and collaboration. Beginning in late August 2024, we began working with Sunnyside-Woodside Mutual Aid, Gratis Grove Community Fridge, and Astoria Food Pantry to feed 100+ families every Thursday.
Every week, two volunteers drive a small box truck up to Hunts Point in the Bronx, which is a distribution hub for produce and dry goods across the city of New York. Lots of food delivered there isn’t claimed by supermarkets or other retailers (usually because of some small, insignificant blemish or packing irregularity). The two volunteers connect with a nonprofit called Sharing Excess, which streamlines the donation of unsold produce to community organizations, soup kitchens, and pop-up food pantries like ours. So this isn’t just a food distribution, it’s a food rescue—getting good, healthy food that would otherwise enter the waste stream to people who need it.
There are regular volunteers most weeks, and folks who are helping out for the first time. It’s a great way to connect with neighbors in the spirit of solidarity, not charity. Because especially in this increasingly unaffordable city, almost all of us are one emergency away from impossible choices—between food and rent, childcare and medical care, etc. etc. etc.
Depending on how much food we have and when the truck delivers it, we can often be finished by 3 or 3:30. If you’d like to be a part of this—or have questions—please don’t hesitate to reach out.