On Sunday, January 29th from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at 101 Clinton Street Street (between Remseen and Joralemon) Spread Love Brooklyn is collecting cold weather items for asylum seekers who recently arrived in New York.  Donations are earmarked for the benefit of Gowanus Mutual Aid, CHiPS, and Team TLC. Please consider gifting any of the following:

• winter coats
• sweaters/sweatshirts
• hats, scarves, gloves, mittens
• winter boots/sneakers
• new underwear & socks
• backpacks
• gently used strollers

All items should be new OR gently used and washed.  Please, no broken zippers, missing buttons or snaps, rips, holes, or stains. Ideal shoe sizes are men’s size 9 and under, women’s 8 and under, and any child size.

If you recall, in August and September 2022 Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (R) sent busloads of asylum-seekers to New York City in August and September of 2002 to prove a political point, as reported by the New York Times. New York City is a sanctuary city.

Spread Love Brooklyn is the brainchild and passion project of Brooklyn Mom, Christina D’Asaro.  It unofficially began during the peak of the pandemic in December 2020. Not yet branded as Spread Love Brooklyn she held a toy drive for children for a local mutual aid group. When Lincoln Restler was newly elected in 2021, she cold-called the City Councilmember to see, “if he could help [her] with distribution in the community. He connected me with Wyckoff,  gardens, among others, and I ended up [collecting] 700 toys in my tiny apartment.”

In 2022, Christina was able to officially partner with Councilmember Restler and his team to hold two events for the benefit of Gowanus Mutual Aid and NYCHA respectively. First, in September, she collected school supplies. Then in December, she coordinated another toy drive, this time held at the Brooklyn Borough Hall’s Farmer’s market. Their efforts, along with that of the community, amassed over 1,000 donations and took three cars to transport to Lincoln Restler’s headquarters on Atlantic Avenue.

Spread Love Brooklyn founder Christina D’Asaro with City Councilmember Lincoln Restler and Peppa Pig at the Dec 2022 toy drive.

Christina works full-time in communications and is a wife and mother of a spirited young daughter. Given her professional and familial responsibilities, she isn’t sure whether this labor of love will evolve into the establishment of a non-profit. But for now, “future plans include a food drive.” Still, she is changing the lives of neighbors in need one drive at a time. She added, “the network is growing and people are spreading love-expanding to Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, etc.” Follow Spread Love Brooklyn on Instagram for up-to-the-moment info on her efforts to help our neighbors.  Brava, Christina! Brava!

Photo Credit: Beth Heller Photo/Beth Eisgrau-Heller

Imagine your country is on the brink of war. Then you learn your two-year-old child has a large, cancerous brain tumor. This is exactly what the Negodiuk family from Kyiv, Ukraine has endured.  Just two days before Russian bombs began to drop, their son Mark had emergency surgery. Once home, the family of three was forced to seek shelter in their basement during the siege. Fortunately, with the help of Elena Koenig, teen cancer survivor and Founder of The Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation, The Negodiuks fled Ukraine to New York City where Mark received vital care at Memorial Sloan Kettering. You can see more of their story in these CBS and NBC news clips.

Now the Negodiuks have safely settled in Brooklyn Heights. But they are starting completely from scratch in a virtually empty apartment. This morning Mark’s father, Dima made a plea on the neighborhood Buy Nothing Facebook page. His post has been lightly edited for clarity and read in part;

Hello, Brooklyn Heights neighbors. We are family from Ukraine with 2 y.o kid. 2 days before [the Russian invasion of Ukraine] was we knew, that our kid had a brain tumor…Thanks God, 3 month ago, we were able to come to New York to MSK cancer hospital, received best medicine and last week we finished our treatment. As our appartment is totally empty, even no kitchen. I’m wondering if someone has any furniture:

Dinning table

Chairs for dinning table

Bed – king size (as we have king size mattress and linen)

Sofa bed

Kitchen island (as there are no kitchen and no place to prepare dish for cooking)

Multi cooker

Watching machine

Microwave

Commode for clothes

Will be grateful for any help! Thank you!

If you’d like to assist, please comment below with the item(s) you have available and the best way to connect. The family has not asked for clothing or monetary donations. But because they currently have limited ability to cook, perhaps gift cards for Instacart, Grub Hub or Seamless would be appreciated as well.

If you are unaware, Buy Nothing Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO/Vinegar Hill Facebook page and others like it is a hyper-local group to mindfully gift unwanted household items or request needed/wanted items. Gifters are encouraged to let items “simmer,” select a recipient and schedule a hand-off. Popular items in our neighborhood are bar stools, storage bins, clothing, books, toys, and even leftover cookies or cakes. According to the New York Times, even dryer lint and pickle juice are in demand. The movement was started by two women in Washington State in 2013 and has since taken hold in forty-four countries. The intention is to foster community and empathy and to keep otherwise useful items out of landfills.

Members of our local group have answered the call to help neighbors in the past. Collections have been taken up for those displaced by fire both in Brooklyn Heights and the Bronx. An anonymous member asked for much-needed clothing for her many children and was gifted items through the Administrator. Another was desperate to find her bag containing her phone, wallet, and keys fly after it flew off the back of her Citi-Bike. A Mother/Daughter duo found it trapped under the wheel of a parked car in front of Sam’s Autobody. Mayhem and a happy ending ensued. For many members, participation has restored some of their faith in humanity. And so, the Blog is calling on your better angels to welcome and comfort The Negodiuks as well.