River Fund founder celebrated during turkey giveaway
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Hundreds of Queens residents picked up a turkey alongside weekly groceries. Eagle photo by Rachel Vick
A Richmond Hill nonprofit celebrated 30 years of service with an annual turkey giveaway, and surprise accolades for the organization’s founder and volunteers.
During River Fund’s annual turkey distribution on Saturday, thousands of residents waited on a line three blocks long to collect their weekly groceries and a turkey — parents with pushcarts and shopping bags trailed by toddlers and preteens made their way through the winding pantry line, where pallets of fresh food, pantry items and necessities like diapers took over the sidewalk.
The weekly distribution was briefly interrupted for founder Swami Durga-Das to receive proclamations from the mayor, borough president and local legislators, including Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar and Councilmember-elect Lynn Schulman, recognizing his decades-long commitment to charity work.
“This can never be about one person, that's for sure,” Durga-Das, a Queens native who transformed the bottom floors of his home into the organization’s headquarters, said.
“It's the dedicated staff that go beyond the call to make it happen,” he added. “I don't think it should be Swami day; I think for all clients who are on line, for all the families and children on line this day is dedicated to them and not to me.”
The surprise was orchestrated by community advocate Sherry Algredo, who wanted to make sure Durga-Das and River Fund were acknowledged.
“When I came here I was so blown away by this organization and what they do,” said Algredo. “[Durga-Das] deserves to be acknowledged; He doesn’t want awards, we don't know if he’ll even accept it — he’s that humble.”
River Fund founder Swami Durga-Das received several proclamations celebrating his commitment to the Richmond Hill Community on Saturday. Eagle photo by Rachel Vick
Saturday’s pantry service is one of the busiest of the year, according to River Fund volunteers, and represents one small part of the organization’s mission to support community members’ needs “from cradle to college” in a way that enables them to break cycles.
“We’re not ending hunger with food, but it’s something to balance,” Durga-Das said. “Food’s not going to end the hunger — we do want to know what’s behind it and how we can help that. All this is really to keep people from calling further into the quicksand.”
Attendance at their biweekly pantry services has nearly tripled since COVID-19 hardships began, said Director of Empowerment Services Karina Izquierdo.
“I think we had a large impact on the community before COVID but … it’s crazy how many people are still without a job,” Izquierdo said. “Events like today where we give out things they might not [have been] able to get before is really impactful.”
River Fund serves an average of 3,000 people approximately 2 million pounds of food per month in addition to the outreach that includes connecting clients to immigration and legal services and scholarship programs that encourage local students to pursue higher education.
“It’s an escape from the real world, you get close to people here,” said volunteer and honoree Jessica Reyes. “It’s more of the idea of creating another family outside of your own - River Fund [gives an] opportunity to open my network and makes sure you prosper.”
