Welcome back to Metro Giving! Every other Tuesday, we’ve found regular New Yorkers who are giving back. Want to recommend someone to be featured in Metro Giving? E-mail charity@metro.us
The words “end-of-the-year bonus” may conjure up images of rich Wall Street fat cats, counting their millions while the rest of the country plummets into financial ruin. But meet one New Yorker who may change your mind.
Lisa Cintron, 32, works as a quality control manager for a Manhattan real estate firm. And when she was given her $8,000 bonus earlier this year she decided to do something she’d never done before: give it all away.
“I would see commercials of Feed the Children and think, ‘This just looks horrible,’” said Cintron, who lives in East Harlem.
She gave the money to Chambers Memorial Baptist Church, at 123rd Street. The pastor there, Rev. Lawrence Edgerton, used it to buy food for Feed the Children.
“I considered taking a vacation, putting cable in this year,” Cintro said. “But there’s nothing that I don’t have that I need. When my teenage son found out what I did he said, ‘Wow, you’re a great woman.’ That’s the return you get back.”
Cintron’s donation was able to buy food for 400 families: Each family that came to the church last week received one box full of nonperishable food, designed to last a family of four for one week. The other box contained personal care items, like deodorant and toiletries.
