If you’re interested in more information or volunteering, contact us with Subject: Serve the Community

The Tree of Life Center

First Church is partnering with First Jamaica Community Urban Development Corporation to bring a 12-story building with 174 affordable housing units, feeding programs, financial literacy and other skills training, and health services that will enrich and empower the lives of Jamaica residents.

Soup Kitchen 

Wednesdays, 5:30pm

Each week a team of dedicated volunteers prepares and serve a healthy and tasty 3-course meal for all who come hungry. Many of our patrons are giving back by serving as volunteers in our food pantry. This is an exciting aspect of our program to see people receive and also willing and able to give back to help others. Volunteers are essential to keeping the Food Pantry well-stocked, the Soup Kitchen running efficiently and decreasing the wait time for dinner patrons.

Partnerships with St. John’s University students and other churches have helped us meet the growing need for food in the Queens community.

Impact statistics:
5,586 persons served in one year.
4,376 adults, 627 children and 583 seniors.

Food Pantry

Tuesdays, 10 am – noon

The Food Pantry is an important community resource that aims to reduce the severe hunger that exists in our community. When we began in 1993, we served almost one hundred families. Today, the need has grown and so has our service, which is now helping to feed over 300 families a month. The patrons of our food pantry represent the many different faces of hunger in America—from the families of the working poor to senior citizens who are raising grandchildren, and from immigrants who do not qualify for government benefits to the recently unemployed, and many who live in transitional housing.

Impact statistics:
13,447 persons served in one year.
6,614 adults, 3,777 children and 3,056 seniors.

Health & Wellness

First Church empowers people to take care of their bodies. Throughout the year, we provide blood pressure checks, diabetes testing, vision testing, and informational sessions, culminating in a community-wide prostate screening event with doctors and nurses from around the county.

Partners include the Tree of Life, the SASS Foundation, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Medical Center and the Brady Urological Health Center.

Impact statistics:
Over 200 men annually receive prostate screening.
Over 100 people received diabetes & health screening in one year.

Services for Immigrants

First Church, in partnership with the Mexican Coalition and other partners, offers services for immigrants, including immigration legal clinics, know your rights workshops, and more.

Blood Drives

This ministry collects blood donations at least twice a year, partnering with New York City Blood Services for professional and technical support. Volunteers register participants, perform various clerical functions, and assist the technical personnel administer the screening tests.

Mission Teams

We periodically gather groups to travel to do acts of service, such as to Puerto Rico, building for Habitat for Humanity, and other projects.

First Church sent two mission delegations this summer to embody Christ’s reach beyond our neighborhood. A church-wide delegation was sent to Puerto Rico though Praying Pelican Missions to build homes, lead worship, and develop relationships. We sent a youth-specific delegation to serve the rural poor in Iowa and purposely develop urban/rural cross-cultural relationships in a time of national division, with our Presbyterian partner churches FPC Spirit Lake, FPC Lake Park, and Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Metro IAF: Organizing Queens

First Church is part of a group of faith organizations, community leaders, and community organizations that organize under Metro IAF. Our goal is to build power in numbers in order to make lasting change for the everyday people of Queens.