December 31, 2022
By: Mary Kim
Msgr. Alfred P. LoPinto, President and CEO of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens offers a prayer and words of encouragement to staff and volunteers before an information session and lunch for new arrivals seeking asylum on Monday, August 29, 2022 at St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn Heights. (Photo: Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens)
It’s that time, for our annual list of ten people (or groups of people) living or working in Brooklyn Heights, who made an impact on our neighborhood, the city, the country, or the world this year. With input from everyone at BHB, here in no particular order are The Ten.
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9. Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, Father William Smith, and the Volunteers at St. Charles Borromeo Church
As BHB reported in August, 200 migrants in a bus from Texas were dropped off at the doorsteps of the Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens on Joralemon St., with letters in their hands that said the office building was their new home. Given no warning of the migrants’ arrival, CCBQ was completely blindsided. But Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, Father William Smith, and volunteers at St. Charles Borromeo Church quickly organized to welcome the exhausted, hungry and confused migrants. At St. Charles, the migrants received a warm welcome to our country, legal information on seeking asylum, boxes of necessities and food, and a hot meal to soothe their weary hearts and bodies.
Read the full list in the Brooklyn Heights Blog here: The BHB Ten 2022: The Most Notable People of Brooklyn Heights This Year