Seniors in Flushing received free, locally sourced meals through Assemblymember Nily Rozic’s annual holiday meal giveaway, hosted in collaboration with Selfhelp Community Services. Together, Rozic and Selfhelp distributed 500 meals to seniors, including many clients of the Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center.
“The holidays are a time to come together and support one another,” Rozic said in a news release. “I’m grateful to our partners and volunteers who helped us bring warm meals and a sense of connection to so many seniors in our community.”
The holiday meal giveaway has been hosted by Rozic, who was first elected to office in 2012, for many years she’s served the community. This year’s event, the news release said, was sponsored by Grubhub and the NYS Latino Restaurant Bar and Lounge Association.
According to Rozic’s office, the distribution was a heartfelt reminder of the power of community and a way of delivering comfort, connection and holiday cheer to those who need it most.
“We are proud to partner with Assemblywoman Rozic each year to ensure our older adults feel seen, supported and cared for during the holiday season,” said Stuart C. Kaplan, CEO of Selfhelp Community Services. “These meals are more than food — they’re a message that our community, and our assemblywoman, values and remembers its older adults.”
Selfhelp, founded in 1936 to support immigrants fleeing from Nazi Germany, is a nonprofit organization that supports seniors and Holocaust survivors It provides housing, home healthcare and social services to help its residents maintain independence and dignity as they age.
The organization owns and operates over a dozen affordable housing locations across NYC and Long Island, as well as dozens of other community-based service locations that support over 25,000 residents.
The organization’s affordable senior housing center in Flushing, Martin Lande House Senior Residence, recently received $850,000 in federal Community Project Funding for capital improvements to the building, which was secured by Congresswoman Grace Meng.
