Tai Chi is helping seniors at Met Council!

Tai Chi is helping low-income seniors living Met Council housing in Brooklyn to improve their health.








For the past two weeks, our seniors have been enjoying a morning Tai Chi class thanks to our Volunteer Department. After the classes many of them have remarked that they feel much more flexible or more balanced, and not only that, according to some studies, it is suggested that Tai Chi can even help to battle depression: check out the article here.

Passover Food Distribution at the Masbia in Flatbush

Starting on Sunday morning, April 10^th, volunteers gathered at the Masbia in Flatbush to help unload a massive delivery of Passover food. There were 55 cases of grape juice, 27 cases of oil, and over 500 boxes of Matzah, just to name a few. The seven pallets of food took up the whole sidewalk in front of Masbia, leaving only a small path for curious pedestrians to walk through. Seeing cases of food in front of Masbia is not a rare sight, all year-round the Masbia in Flatbush serves as a free kosher restaurant, and food deliveries to keep the kitchen stocked are not unusual. What was special about this food delivery is that Masbia was being temporarily transformed from a free kosher restaurant, into a free kosher for Passover supermarket! Because of this, the food delivery was larger than a typical delivery might be. And this morning delivery was only one of the deliveries that came throughout Sunday.

The Sunday volunteers worked hard to bring all the food inside and arrange it beautifully, turning the dining area of Masbia into a Passover market complete with canned goods, dry goods, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, meat and eggs! Thanks to Met Council’s food warehouse and some amazing last-minute food donations and discounts coordinated by Masbia’s Executive Director, Alexander Rapaport, we were able to have so much to give!

On Monday evening volunteers gathered again to staff what was now the Masbia Passover Market and serve clients from Met Council’s Family Violence Services, a program for victims of domestic violence as well as clients from the Sister to Sister Network, a program for single mothers. Volunteers came from all over the city to greet clients, help them select their food and assist them with carrying groceries. We also had visits from New York City Council Members Lew Fidler and David G. Greenfield, NYC Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, and even Channel 12 News. In five hours we filled over 1,000 bags (which were generously donated by Pomegranate Supermarket, a kosher supermarket and Trader Joe's) with food. We provided almost 200 women with food for their families. One client, while deciding how many bottles of oil she needed, said she would be cooking for ten people! Considering that, the amount of individuals that this food will reach is tremendous.

The kindness of the volunteers was met with the warm gratitude of the clients. Everyone who was there, from Sunday morning to Monday night, is sure to have a happier Passover than they otherwise would. Some of us there received the gift of food, but all of us received the gift of human kindness.

Public Benefits Advocate: Harmon Fields, Volunteer of the Month

Met Council is proud to announce that Harmon Fields has been selected to be the Volunteer of the Month! After hearing about our agency through AARP, Harmon signed up to become a volunteer for Met Council. Harmon has greatly contributed to our grassroots community outreach campaign about food access and benefits enrollment. He has distributed well over 5,200 pamphlets and posters to various community-based organizations and business throughout lower Manhattan, in an effort to spread the word about a new and easy way to enroll for public benefits, such as food stamps and Medicaid. Harmon is originally from the Bronx and has been a long-time resident of Manhattan. He is currently an attorney but has worked in special education and social work. Harmon is planning on pursuing a new career in foundation work where he can work toward raising and allocating funds for worthy causes and those most in need around the world. “Community organizations, being non-profit, never have enough funds and paid staff to address all the needs of the populations they serve,” said Harmon. “Volunteers serve the important function of providing vital services that otherwise might go by the wayside or might fall short of the neighborhoods' expectations and needs.” “I was pleased to see that, for the most part, those I spoke with welcomed this new, more efficient way for their communities to get benefits, so the rewarding part was knowing that I was introducing something valuable for these neighborhoods,” added Harmon. Met Council is extremely grateful for Harmon’s dedication, as he has been incredibly helpful in our fight against poverty in New York City!

Networking Workshop Kick-Off Event!

Here at Met Council we kicked off our first Networking Workshop on April 6th with great success! The workshop teaches clients how to build their professional network and works on their networking skills. To do this we have created a three parts training process; the first part is a workshop that is led by Met Council staff on how to create a professional network if you don’t have one in place. The second part has each client write a two minute pitch and a thirty second pitch (elevator pitch) which paints a quick picture of someone’s professional experience and their future goals. This helps streamline the message one is giving to others about their professional selves. The third part of the workshop is a mingling session with volunteers. Each of the workshop participants got business cards with their names on them to give out during the mingling sessions; acquiring a business card lets the client know they were successful in their attempt to network. The mingling took place between a group of enthusiastic and professional volunteers and Met Council clients. It went as follows, 20 minutes of mingling/networking then a 10 minute feedback session where volunteers and clients talked about their experience. A second round of mingling and feedback rounded off the workshop. Client feedback was that they really benefited from the workshop and volunteers felt they were able to really make a difference!

PASSOVER FOOD DISTRIBUTION VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Monday, April 11th 5:30 PM – 10 PM
One-time commitment

Volunteers are needed to participate in Met Council’s Passover Food Distribution for families affected by domestic violence. Duties will include registering clients, monitoring the food, handing out the packages, and helping clients carry the items. It’s a great way to help a family have enough food for Passover!

If you are interested in more information about either of these volunteer opportunities, please contact Malwina Andruczyk at (212) 453-9526 or mandru@metcouncil.org

Met Council's Debut Sunday Lunch Program at E 61st St.

This past Sunday, Met Council's E 61st Street housing site had their first Sunday Lunch Program! Similar to 3rd Avenue's lunch program, volunteers served the residents a catered, hot, kosher meal in the building's Community Room. At least 20 residents came to enjoy the free food, socialization with neighbors, and company of the Kehilath Jeshurun families who volunteered at the program.

The program was structured to mimic a restaurant atmosphere. In this capacity, the KJ volunteers were assigned various tasks, such as hostess, waiter, bartender, bus boy, salad chef, croudite chef, and server. There were "socializers" as well, who were assigned to different tables to socialize with the residents. The residents were greeted with a friendly welcome, seated at a table, and then waited on by the lovely wait staff.

The residents were incredibly receptive to the volunteers who were there to socialize with them and serve their nutritional needs. Everyone was constantly engaged in conversation, whether the interactions took place between the residents and volunteers or among the residents themselves. The residents especially took great pleasure in seeing the children, whose warm smiles contagiously spread across the face of every resident. What a delight it was to see such a high caliber of energy and excitement shared by all of those who attended this special program.

According to Richard, one of the residents, "the program was a great success!"