The Queens Galley is winding down operations at their popular soup kitchen and food bank on Washington Avenue. According to Executive Director Diane Reeder, the seven-year-old program, housed in the dining area and kitchen of the Washington Manor boarding house, was forced to move under the threat of eviction from a new landlord.
Reeder said the program had already stopped serving breakfast. Lunch and dinner service will cease after Dec. 13, Reeder said. From Dec. 16-21, the program will operate a free holiday food pantry in the dining area.
Other programs affiliated with the Queens Galley, including a snow-day lunch program at two local community centers, a cooking and nutrition education program and a hospitality industry job training program, will continue, Reeder said. Reeder added that the soup kitchen hoped to open in a new location next year. Meanwhile, she said, the group planned to operate “pop up” soup kitchens on a periodic basis and locations around the city.
The Queens Galley was the only soup kitchen in the city serving three meals a day every day of the year. The city’s remaining soup kitchen, Caring Hands, serves lunch on weekdays at the United Methodist Church on Clinton Avenue.
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