Rep. Meeks and Rockaway Residents Celebrate Thanksgiving

Rep. Meeks and Rockaway Residents Celebrate Thanksgiving

FAR ROCKAWAY, N.Y.--On Thanksgiving Day Congressman Gregory W. Meeks; Reverend Leslie Mullings of the Community Church of the Nazarene; Naron Tillman of Saint Phillips Christian Church; Mike D of the Beastie Boys; Erica Ford from I Love My Life Community Advocates; and a host of volunteers from across New York City, joined Far Rockaway residents for Thanksgiving Day dinner at Challenge Preparatory Charter School. The dinner featured a Wall of Love which was decorated with hundreds of letters written by school children from Dublin, Ohio, to the residents of Far Rockaway. Children attending the dinner read the letters and responded with their own messages of thanks.

Rep. Meeks noted that “Hurricane Sandy inflicted catastrophic damage on the Rockaway Peninsula, other parts of New York City, and Long Island. It is not an exaggeration to say that every family and neighborhood in the Rockaway’s has been affected by the super storm.” He added that, “it was inspiring to see people come from around the city and indeed the nation to make sure that thousands of Rockaway residents had something warm and wholesome to eat on Thanksgiving Day. I witnessed neighbors cooking on their grills outdoors as if it was summertime then sharing their food with neighbors and other residents who had gathered together for a community sit down dinner. People know that we have a long ways to go to fully recover, but I sensed that they were immensely thankful that we have life and we have each other. These are the essential ingredients for rebuilding the Rockaways’ families, neighborhoods, businesses, and infrastructure.”

-30-