Our pandemic year: Feeding Queens neighbors in need
/
Jonathan Forgash founded Queens Together.
Photo courtesy of Forgash
By Jonathan Forgash
On March 10, the Eagle asked readers to describe how their lives have changed a year after COVID-19 transformed New York City. We have begun receiving responses, which we will share in our pages and online at queenseagle.com.
Jonathan Forgash, the founder of the initiative Queens Together, wrote in and responded to specific prompts we provided in our call for submissions.
Forgash’s organization has helped keep community members safe and healthy during the pandemic by providing meals and groceries to people in need. Queens Together connects them with agencies, organizations and food providers. Funding is provided by individual donors, organizations and food businesses through an initiative called “Plate it Forward.”
Here’s what Forgash had to say about the past year:
How has your life changed in the last year?
It has been a brutal year for so many but personally, I have never worked so much, done so much for and with others to help so many. Deep down I feel proud and energized.
When did the extent of the crisis hit home?
My job went remote and part time on March 20. My son and wife, a teacher, also went remote. I started working to fundraise and support restaurants doing food relief. By May we had set up a food pantry. People were dying and food lines were getting bad. One day in July at the food pantry, our group was handing out food to people. People who had waited for hours in the heat. Elderly, moms with babies. I am a chef and used to hosting and cooking for others at work.
All of a sudden I saw the line of people as guests in our home and our group of neighbors as servers and offering hospitality. The line went on and on around the block. It was a brutal day yet it was all civilized and calm. We were all in this together to share and help one another. Towards the end of August the Trump admin was ending the USDA produce program and we lost our weekly supply. A father, whom i’d gotten to know over the summer, called me to ask when we were starting up again. When I said we weren’t he started choking up asking me how he would be able to feed his wife and little children. I had no answer for him. I sat in my car and cried for a very long time. All that occurred to me was how honest, brave and even desperate he was to bare himself to another dad like that and how I would have probably done the same to help my own family. He called off and on for a few more weeks and then stopped. I wish I had kept his number.
How have you helped or been helped through this unprecedented crisis?
I co-founded Queens Together in the spring of 2020. We had been planning to start the first Queens based non profit small business restaurant association by July 2020 but COVID happened. We pivoted to one of our core missions. Food relief. Our plan was to fundraise on social media, support restaurants by paying them to prepare meals for food relief efforts across Queens. Since that time we have raised over $225,000 and helped serve over 50,000 meals, tons of fresh produce and groceries. We are going strong. Our restaurant association
Who have you turned to for support?
My wife. She has been my rock and partner thru this year. At Queens Together we have a tight group of advisor board members. All experts and passionate about serving community. I have learned to turn to strangers that want to step up and take on real action. I have learned to trust and partner with those that share a common goal. It has been an honor and joyful working alongside these people.
And what do you most look forward to when “normal” life resumes?
A dinner party at home with friends. A dinner party out with friends. Live music and drinks with my wife. Spending a day out and about with our son, without masks or fear.
Want to share your pandemic story?
Email editor David Brand at david@queenspublicmedia.com or reporter Rachel Vick at rachel@queenspublicmedia.com
