Bay Ridge activist wins city’s ‘Helping Hand Award’
He cooked meals for Sandy victims
A Bay Ridge civic and political activist who organized a local relief effort to assist the victims of superstorm Sandy last fall that involved leading volunteers in cooking thousands of meals for displaced families was honored by the city with a Helping Hand Award.
Justin Brannan, founder of Bay Ridge Cares Kitchen, a group that worked for months behind the scenes preparing and delivering hot meals to storm ravaged parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, received the award from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Robert Walsh at a recent ceremony in lower Manhattan.
The Helping Hand Award is a new sub-category of the Neighborhood Achievement Awards, an honor that was established by the Dept. of Small Business Services to recognize residents from all five boroughs for their outstanding impact on New York City’s neighborhoods. The Helping Hand Award was established to honor individuals who assisted people, businesses, and neighborhoods affected by Hurricane Sandy.
The winners are selected from among nominations submitted by the public to the Dept. of Small Business Services.