Flushing Interfaith Council receives $20,000 grant to support community relief efforts

Flushing Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends is a founding member of the Flushing Interfaith Council, which received a $20,000 emergency grant to support community relief efforts addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City, allocated the funding to the Flushing Interfaith Council. 

The council will work in partnership with member organizations including the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, the Sikh Temple of New York, and the Flushing Jewish Community Center. 

“We very much appreciate this opportunity to scale up our efforts as the Flushing Interfaith Council joins the collective effort to address the economic and social crisis in our community, caused by the current pandemic,” said Nancy Bruno, a member of Church on the Hill and board secretary of the Flushing Interfaith Council. “Our members are already active in enhancing efforts to provide food in several local pantries, but this grant will enable us to coordinate food services with social services, counseling and direct emergency funds.”

Flushing has experienced a large number of COVID-19 deaths in local senior centers and a huge impact on local businesses. An increasing number of individuals are lining up at local food pantries for assistance, according to the Council.

The short-term grant will help its partners pay social services and counseling staff, advise small businesses, support affiliated food pantries, and increase capacity to deliver food to the elderly and homebound.  

“During such times of distress, one’s spirituality gets tested. This is the time to realize one God in all and serve all humanity without discrimination or bias of race, ethnicity, faith or religion,” said Harpreet Singh Wahan, a member of the Sikh Center of New York and a founding member of the Flushing Interfaith Council. 

Community members needing assistance should submit requests to help@flushingfriends.org. 

For more information about the Flushing Interfaith Council, click here.