Thursday, December 20, 2007

Operation Christmas Cheer for New York City Waterfront Workers


Gowanus Lounge provides an interesting option to the reader who asked about Christmas Day volunteer opportunities on Roosevelt Island.

One of the most unique holiday operations in New York City is PortSide New York's Operation Christmas Cheer. It involves visits to dozens of working tug and barges on Christmas Day and the distribution of cookies, newspapers and cheer to the crews. This is the fourth year that PortSide is spreading joy around New York Harbor.
PortSide New York aims to:
breathe life into the relationship between landside communities and the maritime sector—to the advantage of both.
And to:
...create activities and spaces that benefit both groups, nurture economic connections between the two, foster their mutual appreciation, and make the waterfront neighborhood they share a better place to live, work and visit.
Although not a land based volunteer opportunity many of these tug and barge crews probably work the East River and often pass by Roosevelt Island.
Image is from PortSide New York Operation Christmas Cheer.

UPDATE 12/22/08 - Here's an update on volunteering opportunities for 2008 at Coler-Goldwater Hospital.

1 comments :

Carolina Salguero said...

What a pleasant surprise to find ourselves on your Roosevelt Island blog! Thanks!

The Xmas boat is full up with elves this year, we don't have room for more on Xmas day. We could use help the afternoon of Christmas Eve wrapping up all the cookies. This occurs in the galley of the tanker Mary Whalen, PortSide's home. She is located in the Red Hook Containerport, so helping on Xmas Eve is a good way to get exposure to a unique maritime scene while doing something nice for others. The Whalen will be moving to the Navy Yard in early January so this is our last 2007 event in the containerport. www.portsidenewyork.org
Happy Holidays! Carolina (Nemodeer)