Give back to your community or wallow in self-pity? For Queens College professor Dr. Robin Rogers, the choice was pretty obvious. After she and her ex-fiancé called off their engagement earlier this year, she was initially stumped about how to put several non-refundable down payments to good use, but she didn’t let the dilemma get her down.
Inspired by a Facebook cause she supported two years ago in lieu of receiving birthday gifts from friends, the 40-year-old mother of two realized that the $9,000 she and her ex had pre-paid on her wedding dress and rehearsal dinner could be paid forward rather than simply lost. After he suggested that Rogers could spend it any way she wanted, she brainstormed a way to turn sadness into service. “I knew I didn’t just want to have a party for myself,” Rogers explains with a laugh. “That would have been weird, depressing and maybe a little creepy. I wouldn’t want to go to that party!” Instead, she announced a fundraiser for her local soup kitchen at the Greenpoint Reformed Church in Brooklyn, held earlier this month.
Rogers was able to convince most of her vendors to simply change the order. Save-the-date cards from Cheree Berry Paper were turned into fundraiser invitations, and the restaurant previously booked for the wedding, Dressler, served a buffet of braised short ribs, salmon and crab cakes to guests at the church eager to help raise funds for soup kitchen supplies and food. At $100 a ticket, the event was a perfect blend of philanthropy and style, minus any of the trappings of a traditional wedding reception.
What surprised Rogers was the media attention. “When I started getting calls, I was awkward about it. I mean, let’s face it, this isn’t that big of a deal,” she chuckled. But, she says, it got her thinking. “What people seem to be responding to is the idea of taking where you are and what you have and making joy out of it.” That’s certainly the goal at the Greenpoint church, where Rogers says Pastor Ann Kansfield is an example of making good work fun. That doesn’t mean that good work isn’t challenging, though.
When the food service program at Greenpoint Reformed began two years, the church served roughly 30 meals a week. Because of the economic downturn and perhaps simply because word about a good thing spread, the church now serves over 450 people every week between Wednesday night meals and Thursday grocery giveaways. While grant funding has increased as need has grown, the money coming in hasn’t kept pace with the people at the door.
With a steady uptick of new people looking for assistance every month out of the last six, it’s no secret that the pantry is struggling to meet the community’s needs. A new stove was generously donated a few months ago, but things remain tight. “This summer, there were lines stretched down the New York City block,” says Rogers, who has lived in the Greenpoint area for more than a decade. “I get emails from Ann at 4 a.m.”
Admitting that she doesn’t go as often as she’d like, Rogers nevertheless calls Greenpoint Reformed her home church — in large part due to their local outreach. “They’re very community-oriented, very inclusive.” When considering where to pay forward the financial remains of her heartbreak, it was a simple, obvious choice.
Rogers admits that “there’s a certain sadness when a relationship doesn’t work out,” but the event didn’t bring her sorrow. If anything, she says, it helped her be thankful for what she has — and how it could benefit others as well.
While it’s still unclear exactly how much money was raised at the gala and how many tickets were purchased towards the event’s goal of $10,000, Rogers notes that the place was packed.
If you missed the fundraiser in Greenpoint or simply want to make a donation, head over
to the church’s website or visit its Facebook cause page.
Photos courtesy of Rev. Tom Martinez.
