These East Village residents are helping feed families in Queens during the COVID-19 crisis

A group of longtime residents have come together to form East Village Loves Queens.

Here's more about their volunteer mission via the EVG inbox:

Although the East Village has taken a significant hit from COVID-19, our neighbors in Queens have been completely devastated. Our friends at Hungry Monks in Ridgewood, Queens, are one of the only pantry and food services still standing, and they have fed more than 10,000 families since COVID-19 hit, using up a year's worth of their budget in a month.

As long time East Villagers, we wanted to find a way to support our friends there. We’ve been volunteering to create and run a number of local campaigns and the response and generosity from East Villagers has been amazing. When it came to getting support for the Hungry Monks, we wanted to create something that felt more local for people, so that they felt more connected and inclined to support.

Thanks to our building manager, we were able to turn our basement into an East Village outpost where local residents can drop off pantry items or mail them to us, and we deliver them directly to Hungry Monks in Queens twice per week. So far the response has been great and our network has been extremely generous.

On two recent Mondays, Ali Sahin, the owner of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street near Avenue B, has donated his space to the group. On May 4, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by C&B to document the volunteers, who were aiming on this day to cook 700 meals and prepare 100 family-size pantry packs.















If you're interested in helping, the group is collecting pantry items and other donations. Visit their website here for more details and contact information.