What's up Members of the Barrio
It's Jon, coming to you from Chelsea
In Manhattan
Today we're going to be doing a different kind of video on this channel
Now many visitors to New York
Want to give back when they come here
Today, i'm going to show you an opportunity for anybody
Both tourist or resident
To volunteer at New York's Biggest Soup Kitchen
Holy Apostles
What they do inside here is absolutely incredible
And Adriana and I are going to be volunteering today to show you
Exactly how you can help out
Before we began
We spoke with Michael Ottley
Director of Operations about just how many New Yorker's are in need?
You know 1 in 8 New Yorker's are food insecure
Or go to bed hungry
That's a shame
There's over 100,000 children that are in the New York City department of education
Or schools
That go to bed hungry
Or are living in shelters
And thats a shame
We're doing all we can to help eradicate that
Around 1,000 people in need
Pass through these doors everyday
As we toured the site more than 50 volunteers were already preparing food
Right now wer'e being introduced to a lot of the people that work here
We're getting a general rundown
Of how things operate
They work mondays through Fridays
10:30 to 12:30
You can volunteer just about any day of the week
Also this church has so much history
It's been around for over 175 years
It was once a stop on the underground railroad
We were getting a little tour downtstairs of that
We had a chance to talk with Revere Joyce
Corporate and Community Engagement Manager
Who was orientating a high school group
And she's one passionate lady
And if you're a greeter
You have a very important position
Because you're actually saying
Good morning, good afternoon, welcome to the Soup Kitchen
Enjoy your meal
Have a blessed day
We get volunteers from all of the states in the United States
But also internationally and they all love coming to the soup kitchen
I would just say come
It's definitley part of the New York Experience
And it's also free ..
It's a wonderful place to volunteer
You get breakfast, you get lunch
But it's so impactful..
You can read about homelessness
You can see a video about homelessness
Or you can be here at the soup kitchen
And experience it 360 degrees
With the guests set to arrive in minutes
Team Adriana and I put on our uniforms
I'm excited
Very excited actually
At Holy Apostles
It's all about the guests comfort
And this piano player set a nice mood
We're going to be starting our volunteer experience
At the bread line
And then we're going to be rotating around
Showing you some different things
That you can do here
I have a very good feeling about this experience
I put on my gloves
And got my instructions from a friendly volunteer
And they started to arrive
Our job was to give bread and bagels to go
A basic task
But quite gratifiying at the same time
Here you go
You just point it out
And we hand it to them
And then I replenish it
Take a napkin
Put another bagel, another piece of bread
It's pretty simple
But kind of puts you right on the front line
You get to talk to the guests
It's very nice
Thank you man
You're welcome
The soup kitchen was in full swing
And we shifted stations
To the lunchline
Adriana readied herself by preparing some trays with food
And began to pass them out
We have pasta, apples, vegetables, salad..
I think it's pretty nutritious
This is all very impressive to me
Because there are a lot of people getting fed right now
This team of volunteers
Is like a well oiled machine
Everything is moving quickly
Look at these hard workers here
Seamless
What a volunteer team at Holy Apostles
Indeed
We met people from all walks of life
Even a 92 year old woman
This is Joel from Australia
Visiting New York for a short period
He was handing out medical and dental supplies
Proof that anybody can help out
Not just locals
The reason I wanted to come here
Was because I wanted to meet real people
Meet local people
People from New York
And to give back and serve in some way
I love the routine
And I love feeling part of something that does something so big
And i'm just playing a small part in that
It's quite humbling
From Australia to Astoria
Volunteers from all over
Did the little things
Like packing bagged meals to go
Team Adriana even helped out with dish washing
But they offered even more
They also offer a lot of social services here
They even have somebody giving free haircuts upstairs
They have a computer lab
Meditation centers
This is a one stop shop for people
That are really in need
And it just warms my heart
To see all the great things that they have
Going on in here
It's really nice
This story wouldn't be complete
Unless we talked with someone who came to Holy Apostles
We met Kendale
Who was very enthuiastic to tell us
About his experience
It's a community for homeless people
We need to help homeless people
Trying to give them everything they want
And you know it's a good environment
Holy Apostles is a good environment
They're here.. they hear you
You out..
Anything you want
They could hook you up
They can help you with anything that you want.
876 meals were served on the day we volunteered
Members of the Barrio what an incredible experience
Volunteering here at Holy Apostles
If you're visiting New York City
If you live in New York City
And you only want to come just once
I'm putting information down below..
This would be the perfect experience for anybody
Who doesn't want to ignore homelessness
But actually wants to do something to help out
You're giving back to the community
And we got to meet so many cool people
Inside there
From the volunteers to the staff
To some of the guests here..
I hope it inspired a few of you out there
To come to Holy Apostles
And do what you can
Guys make sure to check out my other New York City playlists as well
Linked down below
Thank you so much for watching this vidoe
Until next time.