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| Photo courtesy Lorraine Le Tac |
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| Photo courtesy Lorraine Le Tac |
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| Photo courtesy Lorraine Le Tac |
Kensington Windsor Terrace Mutual Aid Celebrates at Prospect Park Gathering.
by Laura Castro
"I think it's pretty impressive," said one attendee at the Kensington Windsor Terrace Mutual Aid gathering in Prospect Park earlier this month.
"We've raised over $90,000 in less than seven months!"
The all-volunteer mutual aid group has been supplying groceries and
emergency cash stipends to neighbors hard hit by the pandemic and making
deliveries to individuals unable to leave home.
At the Prospect Park gathering, some KWTMA members were meeting in
person for the first time. The group has been organizing remotely on Zoom since
the onset of the pandemic, with as many as “a couple of hundred” area residents
contributing in various ways over time. “It was funny,” observed Lorraine
Le Tac afterwards, “now that we were meeting for real, we could only see half of our
faces, because of our masks!”
KWTMA emphasizes that the neighborhood crisis is far from over.
Neighbors wait many weeks to get grocery support and months to get cash grants.
“People are struggling to pay their rent, put food on the table, all while
worrying about childcare and getting sick,” says Sofya Aptekar, making the
observation that the pandemic “has hit us in different ways, reflecting the
deep inequalities across NYC.”
Sunday's
gathering, however, was a time for celebration and community building.
Attendees ranged in age from preteen to mid-fifties. Longtime residents
were joined by volunteers who moved to the area two months ago. There
were treats, guitar music and a dog. "Seeing people come together like
this is powerful," said Adam Wilson, one of several event organizers.
[To learn more about KWT Mutual Aid, you can check out their Facebook page or website (where you can also donate, seek help or offer to volunteer).]
