an antidote for these horrors

with resources to help you get involved

To me the only antidote to the horrors of the world is to be connected to each other. It is literally the only way that we are going to collectively change anything.

— Liz Alpern

Last month, I was preparing my submission for the winter issue of the Park Slope Reader (a neighborhood general interest magazine) — something about croissants, I believe. Then election night came and passed, and, thoroughly disappointed if not totally surprised with the results, I decided to switch tack to something more pressingly relevant.

If you read my article about Queer Soup Night from this past summer, or if you’ve attended one of their events over the past nine years, you may already be familiar with the organization and its founder, Liz Alpern. In response to the downright shocking 2016 election, Liz founded Queer Soup Night as a way to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community through the most comforting food she could think of.

the spread at a Queer Soup Night picnic in Fort Greene Park from earlier this year

As I revisited our conversation from May with a fresh dose of dramatic irony, I found solace in Liz’s words, and I wanted to share some of them with you here.

We, as an organization, basically started during the (2016) Trump presidency out of outrage and fear and concern and resistance. But we always said, “This party is not going to become irrelevant when Trump is no longer president.” There were a thousand things we were activated about before, and there are a thousand things we're going to be activated about.

When Biden became president, no one was like “I think we're just going to chill.” And look at where we are in 2024 facing another Trump presidency. It's insane to think about, but the very obvious message is that social justice work doesn't chill out. It just goes in different ways. 

The wealth gap and racism and war and the lack of social services were all happening very prominently during Biden's administration. I became a parent two years ago and I think about how we're making ends meet and we're middle class. And I'm thinking about all the people who have kids who just don't have the resources. It's an entire new world of the wealth gap that I feel exposed to.

So nothing's going anywhere. And we’re going to keep doing what we're doing.

You know, I think if you had asked me a few years ago where we were going, I would have said we're expanding nationally to as many places as possible. At this point I say, we're just gonna keep organizing, keep showing up, keep raising money, keep building community. To me the only antidote to the horrors of the world is to be connected to each other. It is literally the only way that we are going to collectively change anything.

Liz’s words are particularly prescient when you realize that we spoke over six months ago, but that only underscores the fact that there is social justice work to be done regardless of the current administration. Things are not rosy under the current president, and they certainly won’t be better with the next one. The endless pendulum swing from bad to worse makes me feel like we’re stuck on the worst carnival ride known to humankind, and the only way out is for the entire machine to fall apart.

As I teeter on the verge of despair and helplessness, Liz’s words provide me with hope. Something that is still within our power is to show up for our communities and take care of those around us. In fact, directing our attention to the local may be the only way we can enact lasting change on a global scale.

With that being said, one of the ways I try to give back to my community is by volunteering with organizations working to combat food insecurity in my city. If you’re based in New York City and want to get involved, here are some organizations that I believe are deserving of your time and/or your donations.

🥕 City Harvest NYC (@cityharvestnyc)

City Harvest is NYC’s largest food rescue organization, sourcing perfectly good, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and delivering it for free to New Yorker’s experiencing hunger. They take a multi-pronged approach to ending hunger in communities across the city, including food rescue and distribution, nutrition education, disaster response, and advocacy. Here’s how you can get involved.

👨‍🌾 Edible Schoolyard NYC (@esynyc)

Edible Schoolyard NYC aims to support edible education for every child in the city by partnering with NYC public schools to provide hands-on cooking and gardening education. Though these programs, they help to transform children’s relationship with food, cultivating healthy students and communities. Here’s how you can get involved.

🗽 Emma’s Torch Food (@emmastorchfood)

Emma’s Torch empowers refugees through culinary education. Through their 11-week curriculum, they provide students with top-notch culinary training and help them find meaningful careers in the food industry upon graduation. They are working towards a vision of a country where refugees are welcomed as drivers of the economy and as enhancers of their communities. Here’s how you can get involved.

❤️ EV Loves NYC (@evlovesnyc)

EV Loves NYC was started by a small group of friends who began cooking and sharing meals with their East Village neighbors during the early pandemic. Now they’re a volunteer-run nonprofit partnering with over 85 organizations across the city to help feed NYC’s food insecure. Here’s how you can get involved.

🧠 Food Education Fund (@foodeducationfund)

Food Education Fund immerses New York City public high school students in the dynamic world of hospitality, and equips them with the knowledge, skills, and network they need to take charge of their futures. Their programs include classroom training, workplace development and internships, Pass the Spatula — the country’s only student-run food magazine, and more. Here’s how you can get involved.

🚲 God’s Love We Deliver (@godslovenyc)

For nearly forty years, God’s Love We Deliver has been cooking and delivering medically tailored meals for people living with chronic/serious illness. In addition, they provide ongoing nutrition assessment, education, and counseling to support the health of their clients, all for free. Here’s how you can get involved.

🍞 Hot Bread Kitchen (@hotbreadkitchen)

In 2008, founder Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez started Hot Bread Kitchen from her Brooklyn home kitchen, cooking and baking alongside immigrant women with dreams of a brighter future. Since then, Hot Bread Kitchen has worked to create economic opportunity for women and gender-expansive people, immigrants, and people of color through job skills training, food entrepreneurship programs, and an ecosystem of support in New York City. Here’s how you can get involved.

🥟 Meals For Unity (@mealsforunity)

Meals for Unity initially started as a one-time event in 2020 to feed and aid the AAPI community, which witnessed a surge in food insecurity during COVID. It has since evolved into a full-fledged nonprofit that aims to uplift those in need through community and food. They operate on the three pillars of providing meals to vulnerable communities, amplifying and supporting local food businesses, and promoting inclusivity and action through community. Here’s how you can get involved.

🚐 North Brooklyn Angels (@northbrooklynangels)

North Brooklyn Angels was formed by a group of North Brooklyn residents who wanted to help stem the tide of gentrification’s effects on individuals and families in their neighborhood. Since 2017, the Angels have been bringing food to where the need is through their mobile soup kitchen (the Angelmobile), which now regularly serves over 1,800 hot, healthy meals a week at nine locations in North Brooklyn. Here’s how to get involved.

🥬 One Love Community Fridge (@onelovecommunityfridge)

One Love Community Fridge works to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition, and the stigma associated with all three through an inclusive movement that centers access to fresh foods, nutrition education, and sustainability. The organization helps stock dozens of existing community fridges across NYC, and also aids in adding additional fridges strategically placed close to public schools to support youth and families throughout Brooklyn. Here’s how you can get involved.

🧧 Send Chinatown Love (@sendchinatownlove)

Send Chinatown Love was started in March 2020 in response to the slew of small businesses that were closing due to racism, xenophobia, and inequitable access to government loans. Through their initiatives, including the Made Here cookbook, this volunteer-run organization hopes build a more resilient future for Asian-owned businesses and for NYC’s Chinatowns. Here’s how you can get involved.

🌮 Street Vendor Project (@streetvendorproject)

With the recent passing of Prop 2, street vendors in NYC are more vulnerable than ever. Street Vendor Project is a membership-based organization of over 2,900 members who champion the rights of street vendors as small businesses to earn a living and contribute to the culture and life of New York City. Through direct legal representation, small business training, organizing support, leadership development, and strategic legislative advocacy, and with language access ingrained in every aspect of their work, SVP builds power and community among vendors. Here’s how you can get involved.

And of course, you can support your local queer community by attending a Queer Soup Night event in your area. Follow them on Instagram (@queersoupnight) to stay up to date on upcoming events! Special thanks to Liz for reminding me of the importance of supporting and uplifting our local communities in these trying times.