Thanksgiving had a new meaning this year for thousands of Sandy victims throughout New York, who received Thanksgiving dinner donations at the request of Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Boxes filled with cranberry sauce, vegetables, stuffing, gravy and other Thanksgiving dishes, along with thousands of turkeys, were delivered to New Yorkers affected by the storm.
On Wednesday, November 21, the day before Thanksgiving, the Korean Senior Center in Flushing was one of the many sites across New York that received the generous donation.
Austin Shafran, vice president of public affairs for the Empire State Development, attended the lunch and helped prepare the meal.
Cuomo deployed agency commissioners and senior staff, such as Shafran, to help with the Thanksgiving donations, volunteer and serve at centers across the city.
“This Thanksgiving, we wanted to ensure that New Yorkers impacted by the storm can still celebrate the holiday with their loved ones,” said Cuomo.
At the Korean Senior Center, over 600 hungry people were served.
Statewide, roughly 4,000 dinner boxes and turkeys were distributed to different disaster-stricken areas, all donated by Costco, Delta, ShopRite and Walmart. They were packed and delivered by the National Guard, and brought to different centers in Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Westchester County and Long Island.
“The generous contributions . . . made [Thanksgiving] possible for families in the hardest hit communities in the state. I thank our corporate partners for their continuing assistance which will provide the invaluable comfort of a Thanksgiving dinner to thousands of New Yorkers,” said Cuomo.
