By Mark Hallum
The Masbia Soup Kitchen in Rego Park got some help from a realty firm last week.
According to Alexander Rapaport, co-founder and executive director of the Masbia network of kosher soup kitchens and food pantries, Stanley Schuckman of Schuckman Realty held a coorporate volunteer day at the all-kosher facility. Not only did he provide the labor for the meal that night, he also distributed cash for everybody who dined in the kitchen that day.
The Masbia Soup Kitchen specializes in supplying kosher goods to homeless residents across Queens and Brooklyn. Their kitchens serve hot meals five days a week and provides a pantry program during Passover. This consists of nine meals for the eight days of the Jewish holiday during which Masbia does not operate.
“Our mission is to feed everyone,” Rapaport told the TimesLedger in 2014. “We happen to be kosher, but our mission is to feed all of New York’s hungry.”
When Schuckman held his corporate volunteer day April 14, donations of labor, goods and cash were made.
Stanley began handing out $10 bills to all the people who showed up, according to Rapaport. “And when he ran out of money, he went to the ATM and got more.”
Rapaport estimated that around 400 people were fed during the meal.
“That’s in addition to a four-figure check they left to help out with the Passover distribution known as the Charoset Drive.”
The Schuckmans making generous donations is nothing new, according to Rapaport. They have a history of donating hundreds of cans of tuna to the predominantly Bukharian Jewish non-profit organization.
The Masbia Soup Kitchen is located at 98-08 Queens Blvd. Schuckman Realty is based in Lake Success.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
