Haverstraw, NY – A dozen local hip-hop artists put aside thoughts of record platters last night in favor of platters of steaming fried fish, collard greens and sweet potatoes to serve nearly 100 area residents who could use a hot meal.

The artists, who are featured on the hip-hop segment of Polish Radio WRKL 910AM, answered a call from radio personality CT for volunteers to collect coats for needy residents and serve food to the hungry and homeless. The idea, said Christopher “CT” Torres, was to show hip-hop’s bright side.  

“A lot of time, the image people see, or the perception of the young kids, are always doing something negative to attract attention,” Torres said. “I asked them to donate their time – it’s the most important thing there is. The young people came out and showed everybody what they can do, what they’re made of.”

Torres didn’t restrict his request for volunteers to his radio audience. He hit up Tony Dandridge, who along with Richard Clarke, Jeff Eason and Sean Jennings owns Off the Hook fish and chips shop in Haverstraw, for help and presented his idea to Vedeta Hanley, executive director of Community Action Partnership of Rockland County Inc.

Hanley was intrigued with the idea and offered to host the project in her organization’s rooms in the basement of Congregation Sons of Israel in Haverstraw.

“They wanted to do something positive for the community,” she said. “This is giving back. They wanted to show that young people can do great things given a chance and outlet. This is just the first of many activities we’ll be doing.”

Dandridge, a retired New York City police detective, was a little harder sell. He wanted to see what the group was about so he listened to the show before throwing his support their way. He liked what he heard so much, he has appeared as a guest and agreed to donate last night’s supper for 70.

“The thing that I really admire is the collaboration with young kids who are trying to convey a positive message,” he said.

Haverstraw residents Lidia Gonzalez, 41, and husband, Frank Navarro, 57, were among about two dozen people at the first seating, joined by friends and family.

“This is for the community, for the people, my friends, everybody,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a nice thing for Christmas, to help people feel good.”

Hip-hop artists Jonathan “Duro Blanco” Lopez, Charles “Uno” Davis and Robert “K Bills” Passley were among the servers, finding the charitable work worth giving up a few hours of a Friday night.

“This is a good thing for the holiday, to help out the less fortunate,” Davis said. He also brought a coat to donate to the cause.

Lopez, who has chef training, said he has volunteered at soup kitchens in the past.

“We’re here just to support the community by anything we can do,” he said. “We want to provide a light to our community.”

Passley pointed out that many of those expected for dinner were an older generation than he and his other hip-hop artists.

“They provided for us,” he said. “I’m willing to do this and to take notes to see if there’s more work like this you can do for the people.”

Peter “Petey Pete” Brunwasser, who does publicity for the show and helped arrange the event, said that everybody benefitted from helping out: community members, who got a free meal; Hanley’s organization, which received canned goods, coats and volunteer work from the hip-hop artists; Off the Hook, whose owners were able to do good in their community; and the artists themselves.

“This is something for them to be able to show the kids the positive,” he said. “It’s the holiday season.”

Source:
Lower Hudson Online