What do you do when your wedding in Sicily — in the church where your father was christened — has to be canceled due to the coronavirus? One Brooklyn educator decided to “take an epic honeymoon to Tanzania,” and benefit some schoolchildren to boot.

In a four-hour We Feed NYC telethon on Feb. 13, the UFT raised more than $310,000 from its members and corporate donors to feed New York families struggling with food insecurity as a result of the pandemic. 

Children benefited from a robust spirit of giving during the December holidays. The union’s Elementary Schools Division collected nearly $22,000 to spend on thousands of toys while UFT members donated hundreds more that were distributed to children in need. Meanwhile, the UFT’s Brooklyn borough office teamed up with First Book to give away about 4,000 books to 200 families.

The UFT Teacher Center, which typically provides professional learning for educators, expanded its mandate during this unprecedented school year to provide a free program of student enrichment — tailored to different age groups — on three consecutive Saturdays in December to help build learning for thousands of students from pre-k through high school. 

The UFT stepped up to help New Yorkers confronting hunger because of the pandemic through its We Feed NYC initiative, which supports community-based food pantries in high-need neighborhoods across the five boroughs. By mid-January, in partnership with local restaurants, We Feed NYC had delivered 20,000 hot meals.

The UFT and its members step up to help communities hurt by the pandemic by helping deliver food to those in need and by donating coats to children in shelters.

As the pandemic brings economic devastation to our communities, UFT members are helping to bring hope. The union is working with community partners to deliver food and address the other needs of our children and their families

Seven years ago, two Federation of Nurses/UFT members who responded to the union’s appeal for medical volunteers, helped in the relief effort in the Philippines after a devastating typhoon. 

What’s cooking in quarantine? Social studies teacher and UFT Chapter Leader Johanna Josaphat streams live lessons for educators and students at the Urban Assembly Unison School in Brooklyn from her kitchen every Friday on Google Hangouts.

The PS 19 school community was hit hard by illness, layoffs and food insecurity. Luckily, the Corona elementary school is part of the UFT’s United Community Schools initiative. “Everybody came together in a time of need,” said teacher Christina Tholl.