MORRISANIA — Carmelo Anthony traded Madison Square Garden for the South Bronx on Monday afternoon to help out a local church with a food giveaway.
The New York Knicks' famous forward came to Word of Life International Church on Union Avenue for an event that aimed to provide 800 families in The Bronx with food, home necessities and a box of Avon products for the holidays.
"I just felt like this is another community that could use the help," Anthony said, explaining why he wanted to take part in the event.
Most people who came to the food giveaway were Knicks fans who advised him to "just keep it going" in terms of his basketball game, he said.
"It's fun. It's funny," said Anthony, who was born in Brooklyn and lived in Red Hook before moving to Baltimore when he was 8. "You have some characters that come through telling jokes, but that's what you get in the city."
The food drive was put together by the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, Word of Life, and the nonprofit Feed The Children — and the massive line for it stretched around the block.
Jacqueline Lloyd, a 47-year-old Bronx resident, said she got in line for the food giveaway at 5 a.m. for a chance to see Anthony, who she described as her favorite player on the Knicks.
She was very appreciative that he had come to one of the poorer parts of the city.
"When somebody like him remembers us and comes to bless us, we have to be grateful," she said.
Cecilia Watson, 62, was happy to get some food and meet Anthony as well.
She said she watches the Knicks play on television a lot but has never been to a game, so this was her first time getting to meet the team's star player in person.
"I felt chills," she said. "That's how excited I am."
