1st Precinct/Suffolk County PAL/Outreach Center Soccer Clinic
COVID-19 – I Am So Over It!
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.
Covid Protocols, Flu Shots, and Soup
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.
Thanksgiving, Flu Shots, and Winter Coats
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.
Some Data Points About the Outreach Center
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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Spiderman, Haiti, Poetry and More
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.
Gerald J. Ryan Outreach Center COVID-19 Pop-up Coronavirus Vaccination Site
Please watch the video reported on Newsday.com
Tariff Struggles With China Helps to Fight Hunger on Long Island
Gerald J. Ryan Summer Camp Golf Outing 2019
The Gerald J. Ryan Summer Camp at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Wyandanch has served the community for nearly 40 years. We enroll 150 children in Grades One through Six. Our goal is to foster the growth of self-esteem in our children as we give them educational and recreational opportunities that would not be readily available to them.
Our goal is to foster the growth of self-esteem in our children as we give them educational and recreational opportunities that would not be readily available to them. The summer camp has an educational component, which is reinforced by our staff of dedicated certified teachers. . The summer camp allows the children of Wyandanch to get off the streets and into classrooms where they have the opportunity to grow and feel safe during the summer. Campers are encouraged to build friendships, set goals and aspirations for the future.
Long Island Catholic Applauds Thanksgiving Package Tradition Organized by the Ryan Outreach Center!
WRITTEN BY GREGORY SHEMITZ / THE LONG ISLAND CATHOLIC
The parish hall of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Wyandanch was humming with activity on Sunday, Nov. 19, as approximately 150 volunteers of various ages and faith backgrounds worked feverishly to assemble bags of Thanksgiving Day food that would be distributed to people in need living in the communities surrounding the church.
