GROC News

Friends,

The Soccer Clinic is in full swing and we have more children this year than ever. If you want to witness these children in action… on a Monday night, come down to Wyandanch Park and watch the kids play as their parents look on. Our dedicated coaches and police officers are great and this event definitely helps solidify community relationships. On Monday, June 13th we are having the Soccer Clinic BBQ at the outreach and need a few more grills and cooks to help make 200 hamburgers and 200 hot dogs! Let me know if you can help.

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I cannot believe that it has already been two years since we asked our volunteers not to come to the Outreach until it was safe. We started to transform our building in order to distribute food to our clients via a table outside the front door. Although, we faced many difficulties…we never closed our doors to our clients and the many Covid positive families in need.

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Just a quick update from the Outreach Center here in Wyandanch!

We have now learned to adapt our services to meet all Covid protocols and are in full production mode, providing food, winter coats, and a host of social services to our clients and our street people. We are distributing food to an average of 45 families per day (depending on weather). St Hugh’s Project Hope has been donating hundreds of dozen eggs and half-gallon milk cartons weekly; that is a considerable help as there is nothing better than fresh milk! When we can, we also share this donation with other charities in Wyandanch, Amityville, and Bay Shore that also have a need.

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Friends,

As I drove up to the Outreach Center at 7:30 AM on Monday, November 21st, there was already a line for our Thanksgiving distribution, and it was raining. I opened the church so that they could shelter from the rain until we started distribution at 9:45. I gave each family a numbered ticket and while wet, they were happy as they knew they were about to receive a full quality Thanksgiving meal for their family.

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Friends,

I am in constant awe of the breadth, depth, and reach of services to the community that the Outreach Center is able to provide and the number of people we are able to touch and serve on a weekly basis.

A quick, sincere “Shout Out” to Rich Schaffer and Tony Martinez who could not have been more supportive to the Outreach Center over the past two COVID years; they are always a phone call or email away to bring our community initiatives to fruition. Their response time to my calls and emails is always quite incredible, and they are faithfully here to help anyone in need. If they could not correct or champion an issue, they advise me who could or where to go. Example: I contacted Rich and Tony in January 2021 to see if I could host a community-based pop up and after their counsel and support we hosted a Pop Up in February and March!

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Friends.

“Mr. Joe, look at my Spiderman backpack,” said a boy as he ran up to me and showed off his newly obtained bag for school. He said “cool”, and I said “way cool!” His older sister rolled her eyes at him (and me) but said thank you as she passed by with her backpack. Her mother smiled saying “Gracias” as they walked home. This has been the spirit of the Outreach “Back-to-School Backpack Program” this year. The children are ready to get back to school and some sense of normalcy after being virtual learners for over a year. We first distributed to registered families a few weeks ago but then held a distribution for non-registered families on August 30th; we will continue to distribute backpacks, supplies, and masks as long as our inventory holds. This is a valued effort and a much-needed community service.

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