It’s time to give thanks — and to give food!
A local civic group launched its annual Thanksgiving-food drive, placing collection boxes for non-perishable items outside a number of stores across Madison and Marine Park, in which do-gooders can drop donations through Nov. 14.
Members of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association have gathered food for the area’s neediest for about six years, and the collection boxes around local grocery stores are now a familiar sight to many residents, according to the group’s president.
“People have come up to me and asked me ‘Where are the boxes?’ ” said Ed Jaworski.
The collection boxes will be at several stores, including Michael’s Bakery on Nostrand Avenue, JoMart Chocolates and Pronto Pizza on Avenue R, Tom’s Cleaners on Avenue S, and at the Fish Market, G&S Pork Store, T&D Bakery, and Roosevelt Savings Bank, all on Avenue U.
And the group will also set up a stand to collect food donations at Key Food on Gerritsen Avenue on Nov. 11 from 10 am to 2 pm, and Jaworski hopes that shoppers will buy an extra can that day and donate it during the Sunday grocery haul.
“We ask people when they go in, ‘Would you buy an extra can for our food drive?’ ” he said.
But the civic gurus aren’t the only ones thinking of others as the holiday approaches — several other food drives and Thanksgiving dinners are happening across southern Brooklyn over the coming weeks.
Good Shepherd Church, Marine Park, Nov. 3–4
The congregants of Good Shepherd Church are encouraged to bring their food donations to mass this weekend, on Nov. 3 and 4. The church will then distribute the goods to four other churches across Brooklyn and Queens for donation.
Millennium Development Shell Bank Turkey Trot, Nov. 14
The after-school program of Shell Bank Junior High School 14 at Batchelder St. and Avenue X in Sheepshead Bay will host a food-donation drive mini-marathon around the schoolyard from 3:30 pm to 5 pm, with prizes for runners and top food donors.
Flatlands Flatbush Civic Group Thanksgiving Dinner, Nov. 17
The civic organization will host its fourth-annual Thanksgiving dinner at PS-IS 109 on E. 45th Street between Farragut and Glenwood roads. There will be a live deejay to entertain guests starting at noon, with dinner served at 3 pm. Free.
The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island Thanksgiving Dinners, Nov. 18–22
The community council will provide 1,000 traditional Thanksgiving meals for free at the following senior centers:
Coney Island Seaside Innovative Senior Center at 3001 W. 37th St., between Surf Avenue and Riegelmann Boardwalk, on Nov. 18 at 11 am.
Marlboro Senior Center at 2298 W. Eighth St., near 86th Street, on Nov. 20 at 1 pm.
Haber House Senior Center at 3024 W. 24th St., between Surf Avenue and Riegelmann Boardwalk, on Nov. 22 at 11 am.
Ocean Parkway Senior Center at 1960 E. Seventh St., at Avenue S, on Nov. 21 at 11 am.
Jay-Harama Senior Center at 2600 Ocean Ave., between avenues U and V, on Nov. 21. Entertainment and music begins at 10 am, dinner will be served at noon.
