Forging relationships through volunteerism

Rock and Wrap It Up! Thanksgiving feast is set

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For Cedarhurst residents Syd and Diane Mandelbaum, Thanksgiving starts at 7:30 a.m., with seven cars parked in their driveway, and ends with a lobster dinner. In between, they help serve hundreds of turkey dinners to those in need.

Cedarhurst-based Rock and Wrap It Up! will host its 28th annual Thanksgiving feast at St. John Baptist Church in Rockaway Beach from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Attendees are served a holiday meal that includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a beverage and a dessert. Kosher meals are served with advanced notice, take-out service is provided, and free taxi service is available.

Syd Mandelbaum is the founder of Rock and Wrap It Up!, a nonprofit that seeks to fight poverty and hunger across the country by donating food and other items to those in need. The feast has grown “exponentially” in recent years, he said, and he is expecting roughly 150 volunteers this year. “Last year we fed over 500 people,” he said. “This year we’re expecting 700 to 800 people to come by.”

Mandelbaum added that the attendees come not only from the Five Towns, but also from Suffolk County. “We have attendees from all over Nassau County and Queens,” he said. “Last year we had a couple from Patchogue stop by and volunteer.”

Woodmere residents Michelle and Edward Schorenstein donated all of the turkeys and hams for this year’s event.

Rock and Wrap It Up! board member Saul Lerner, who has been involved with the feast for the past 25 years, said that seeing the same people at the event helps build relationships. “Some of the people that come have been coming for as long as I’ve been involved, so you eventually get to know them,” Lerner said. “It’s a great experience for everybody, whether you’re volunteering or there to eat.”

St. John Baptist Church Deacon Jim Stillwell, the church’s community outreach director, has worked with Mandelbaum for roughly a decade. It is an honor for the church to hold an event like this every year, Stilwell said. “For the past decade, Syd has become a big part of our community outreach,” he said. “Having an annual event like this, it makes it feel as if I have a mission to help those in need.”

Stillwell added that the feast is special for him because he grew up in a poor family in Atlanta with nowhere to go to get food and clothing. “Friends of mine have told me how they’ve donated goods to an organization like United Way,” he said. “I think that’s great, but you don’t get to see the people receive those goods in person. With this Thanksgiving feast, you get to see people receive the food in person, and I think that’s gratifying.”

Diane Mandelbaum runs the kitchen, and helps assemble the Thanksgiving dinners for the attendees. “I put together a pop-up kitchen in the church, since their old kitchen was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy,” she said. “By the end of the day, I get tired of looking at turkeys.” Instead of a traditional turkey dinner, the Mandelbaums cap their holiday with a lobster dinner.

Her favorite part of the feast, Diane said, is seeing young people take part. “I love seeing the children helping their parents volunteer that day,” she said. “It not only teaches them the importance of working together, but it also shows them how fortunate they are.”

Not all the attendees are there because they’re needy. “One year, a woman came by herself to eat,” Diane recalled. “She came again next year with a $50 donation. After speaking with her, I realized that she wasn’t there because of financial distress. She was there because she had nowhere else to go.”

Syd said he was humbled by the response the event has received from the community over the years. “Going back to my days working at a soup kitchen, the worry was never about having enough people show up,” he said. “It’s about having enough volunteers. Luckily with our Thanksgiving event, we never have that problem. This community is generous, and always willing to lend a helping hand.” 

St. John Baptist Church is at 7405 Rockaway Beach Blvd. Volunteers can work four different shifts: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 10:30 to noon, noon to 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 3. Call Rock and Wrap It Up! at (516) 295-0670.