Gov. Kathy Hochul and Cardinal Timothy Dolan hosted a special Thanksgiving turkey distribution event in Harlem on Tuesday to help families in need this holiday week.
Other religious leaders from Catholic Charities of New York and local elected officials also attended the event at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Community Center on Nov. 25.
Hochul highlighted the importance of the food distribution event, which followed the recent threat of cuts to SNAP benefits.
“Today we’re helping some of our brothers and sisters, and life is sometimes hard for people and we have to make sure that we never forget them, not just during the holidays my friends, but year round,” she said. “And it is a shame, it’s a shame the stress that our people were under over the last month when their SNAP benefits, their food benefits were being held as political collateral damage, to hurt people and make them suffer enough.”
After religious leaders and politicians made their remarks, Cardinal Dolan blessed the food, which was then distributed to more than 500 NYC families to help ensure they have enough on the table for a Thanksgiving meal.
“This is a special day, you bet. But Catholic Charities does this every day. Every day,” His Eminence said. “When I visited with some of the people in line, and they’ve been here since early early morning, they said we love coming to Catholic Charities. They know us, they know our names, they know our families, they remember what we need. They ask about our kids and our grandparents.”
The Cardinal said the experience is a “personal” one.
“It’s personal. People have a name,” he said. “That’s how Jesus was, remember. Jesus fed those who were hungry. We try to do what Jesus did.”
During the event, families received a turkey and all the traditional side dishes, including cornbread, cranberry sauce, rice, yams, muffin mix, milk, and eggs, to help them prepare a full Thanksgiving meal.
“This is time to be with your family, your friends, your loved ones, and I am so blessed to be here today with Catholic Charities supporting so many hundreds of families who need something to eat,” said Antonio Fernández, CEO, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. “Every day, every week, Catholic Charities provides food to the people in need, not just this week.
But this week alone, over 3,000 families will receive food from Catholic Charities and its agencies, Fernandez said.
“And we do it with love and respect, and we do it because we are blessed,” he said. “It is even more blessed to us to give than receive.”
Speaking of giving, the festive event took place the same day Hochul announced that the state mailed out more than 8 million inflation refund checks before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Today marks the day that over 8.2 million inflation refund checks have been mailed out, putting money back into the pockets of individuals across the state,” Hochul said. “We followed through on our commitment to deliver meaningful relief to hard-working New Yorkers, and will continue, every day, to look for additional opportunities to deal with the nation’s ongoing affordability challenge.”
For the previous two months, the state has been mailing out the checks, each one up to $400, to New Yorkers who meet eligibility requirements, including if they filed form IT-201, NYS Resident Income Tax Return for tax year 2023. More information about the checks is available at tax.ny.gov.
