Coptic Christians, Stolen Pies & Doctoral Students

August 7, 2008 by missheather
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic

What do all the above things have in common, you ask? Very simple: Ann Kansfield, the co-Pastor of the Greenpoint Reformed Church. I had the pleasure of hanging out with her earlier this week (albeit under less than auspicious circumstances) and I have to tell you: she always has a story to make you smile.

First off she told me that the food pantry recently received a donation to purchase a second (and sorely needed) refrigerator. In a nutshell she was given a blank check, so she went to MTA Appliance (not Zaya’s as I earlier indicated, whoops!)to make the purchase. There she quickly learned that the owner was Coptic. Despite her insistence, he refused any payment/tips for the delivery of the church’s new fridge.

This is the gyro cart at the corner of Milton Street and Manhattan Avenue. It is a very popular place. I have heard that the foodstuffs to be had here are pretty good. Lest any of you are wondering why this woman decided to set up shop selling falafel I’ll tell you: her son has recently been accepted to medical school. She is working to help pay for his education and support her family. Her husband lost his job.

On a food-related note, last week someone stole a pie from the weekly free dinner at the church. I advised Ann to put up “lost” fliers for it —and although I think she found my idea amusing— I do not think she will follow through with it. It’s just as well; someone took a dump in the church’s front yard. Perhaps this was his (or her) way of returning it?

Then we talked about the soup kitchen. More specifically, organizing a fall fundraiser for it. This is something we have been meaning to work on but the idea got lost/derailed along the way. We’re thinking of something along the lines of an art fair. Any and all suggestions (or local businesses who would be willing to participate) are welcome.

Lastly, someone has been generous enough to produce t-shirts for the food pantry (click on the image to the left for a larger image). While I usually have a serious disdain for being a walking advertisement— FOR ANYTHING— I cannot think of a better cause for us Greenpointers to spread the word about than our local food pantry.

Times are tough —and as a result the Greenpoint Reformed Church is feeding more people now than ever. If you have some money or time to spare, why not spend it there? Who knows, maybe you’ll get a stylish t-shirt! New parents will be delighted to know that the church also has creepers with the snazzy soup kitchen logo. Perfect for the fashion (and socially) conscious baby! More details (and pix) to come.

Miss Heather

*I am going to follow up with this woman. She was VERY nice and I want to learn more about her.

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Comments

7 Comments on Coptic Christians, Stolen Pies & Doctoral Students

mother-in-law on Thu, 7th Aug 2008 11:34 am

How can I get a t-shirt?

rowan on Thu, 7th Aug 2008 5:13 pm

what kind of jerk takes a dump on the front lawn of a church? especially one as open-armed as the Greenpoint Reformed church.

d on Thu, 7th Aug 2008 6:18 pm

I go to that falafel cart approximately once a week. I get falafel on a pita and since it’s a lot of food for $3 (and there is no obnoxious “tip” jar there like everywhere else) I *give* her an extra $1. I know her husband used to have a cart in Manhattan, sorry to hear he is no longer there. That woman is so sweet, I urge everyone to go to her cart if they can and get some great food for great prices.

missheather on Thu, 7th Aug 2008 6:33 pm

She seemed kind of surprised when I went back to talk to her today. (She was VERY BUSY, btw. One woman walking by quipped that she needed an assistant!) She’s very interested to learn other locations where she can set up her cart and generate more business. I recommended she go to McCarren Park for the remainder of the summer. They have ballgames there until midnight. Who wouldn’t be hungry after a round (or two) of baseball or kickball?

d on Fri, 8th Aug 2008 9:28 am

I have a friend visiting and she was asking what was going on last night that the park was so crowded, I told her it’s usually like that – baseball games going on near Bedford and soccer over by Driggs. They could use some food/drink vendors down there. We also hit the East River State Park on Kent and N 9th and apparently some bands are playing there today but I haven’t seen any info on it.

jake_tuff on Fri, 8th Aug 2008 12:00 pm

what are her approximate hours? im not around gpoint during the day but love sloppy anything on a pita. unless of course its that stuff thats been in front of my house with all the flies on it for the past week. ive never seen a poor smear so resilent to mother nature before.

jake_tuff on Fri, 8th Aug 2008 12:33 pm

*poo

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