Coney Island community leader offers food for seniors in need

CONEY ISLAND — Rabbi David Okunov of the Warbasse Jewish Heritage Congregation in Coney Island has found a way to help his neighbors during the coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, March 17, Okunov set up a food distribution station outside the local Key Food supermarket to distribute items to members of his congregation and people from the community.

Distributing food for Passover

“They’ve all called me for the last couple of days telling me that the supermarket shelves are empty and they can’t get eggs, milk or bread. We are preparing for the Passover holiday and we had scheduled a food delivery over a month ago,” Okunov told this paper.

“This all just happened to coincide with our annual food distribution for Passover and now we just want to make sure people have all the basic necessities they need,” he added.

ebrooklyn media / Photo by Arthur De Gaeta Warbasse Jewish Heritage Congregation helps distribute food to the community.

Okunov, who has been the spiritual leader of the congregation since 2011, added that certain kosher foods were extremely hard to come by so he wanted to ensure that those wanting those special items could get them.

“We just want to serve people with dignity and respect and nobody should feel ashamed,” said Okunov. “This is a time when everybody is in need and we are thankful to the management of Warbasse and we’re thankful to the ownership of Key Food for allowing us to use their space,” he added.

ebrooklyn media / Photo by Arthur De Gaeta Community lines up for Passover food distribution in Coney Island.
ebrooklyn media / Photo by Arthur De Gaeta Rabbi David Okunov carries food for distribution.
ebrooklyn media / Photo by Arthur De Gaeta Bags of onions being delivered for distribution.
ebrooklyn media / Photo by Arthur De Gaeta Community member picks up food at distribution site.

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