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Members Of 5 Points Aiding In Turkey Distribution Night At Coney Island Lighthouse Mission

Mediacom also made a $1000 donation towards the cause
Published Nov 26, 2019
New York Cosmos supporters will do their part to help the needy before Thanksgiving.
 
Several fans will volunteer and help out on Turkey Distribution Night at the Coney Island Lighthouse Mission, a soup kitchen in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. They will hand out turkeys and other food to families and people in need. The event starts at 5 p.m. and will run for several hours.
 
"This is their biggest event of the year," said long-time Cosmos fan Nicholas Alexandrakos, who is spearheading the supporters' efforts. "They will be distributing, I believe, anywhere from 250 to 300 turkeys to the working poor. They help the homeless when it comes to a soup kitchen, but this is not a soup kitchen on Tuesday. This is going to be a food pantry. The working people who have a place to live, but they don't have the means to provide for their family consistently."
 
For Alexandrakos and his colleagues, helping the needy was the natural thing to do.
 
"We're trying to do what's right," he said. "We're trying to lift the spirits. We're trying to make a meaningful impact for our neighbors who are in need. I hope that resonates in the hearts of all soccer fans. It's not a Cosmos thing. It's a soccer thing and its humanist thing to feel compassion. Nobody has a monopoly on that."
 
Mediacom, the Cosmos owners, also made an impact, donating $1,000 to the cause. This is the third year in which the Cosmos have been involved with the Turkey Distribution Night.
 
Only hours after Alexandrakos wrote an email to Mediacom last week, the company replied that it was going to make a donation.
 
"This is great," he said.
 
Alexandrakos also has asked the New York Mets to make a donation.
 
Eight to 10 Cosmos supporters are expected to volunteer at the Coney Island Lighthouse Mission on Tuesday night.
 
"We have been donating our time," he added. "It's a beautiful thing and I think that people who cannot attend should know about this because it's a meaningful impact on the local community.
 
"I'm not just giving this turkey, this can of corn. I am delivering love, brotherly love. This is a neighbor. This person lives in Brooklyn and I am helping him out."
 
If Cosmos fans want to help out on Tuesday night, there is an open invitation. The Lighthouse Mission is located at 2114 Mermaid Ave., Coney Island, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11224
 
Cosmos center back Emmanuele Sembroni, who will be an assistant basketball coach at Robert Louis Stevenson School where Alexandrakos is athletic director, might make an appearance, Alexandrakos said.
 
The supporters giving back is not a once a year deal. Alexandrakos and several fans hope to stage a blood drive in February.
 
"The message is not to the front office, the message is to the players that they bleed for the team, they bleed for the jersey and they bleed for the supporters," he said. "And on this day when there's a blood drive, we bleed for them as well. Their sacrifice on the field is motivating us to sacrifice off the field."
 
The supporters also are looking for other ways to volunteer their time through the year.
 
"I said to myself we have to do more. This isn't enough," Alexandrakos said. "It can't be tied just to Thanksgiving. That's why we have events in the spring as well. We try to work at the Lighthouse Mission at least once per season. The summers are difficult because people go on vacation. We try to go at least three times a year. Then I think three times a year is not enough."