5 minute read
Maspeth Federal Announce Community Giving Winners
QUEENS CHAMBER MEMBER NEWS MFS ANNOUNCES COMMUNITY GIVING AWARDS
In May, Maspeth Federal Savings launched a new campaign to recognize small businesses and first responders who went above and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic.
Community members in Queens were asked to nominate potential recipients for the COVID-19 Community Giving Award. For each nomination received, the bank donated $1 to a local charity, up to $5,000.
Ten small businesses were awarded $1,000 each in grants, while 20 first responders or essential workers were given $250 gift cards and two KN-95 masks. Altogether, Maspeth Federal Savings awarded $20,000 in grants to the winners, which were announced on June 8.
The Community Giving Award was part of Maspeth Federal’s charitable actions throughout the pandemic. The community bank donated more than $50,000 to community organizations, 10,000 KN-95 masks and delivered food every week to police precincts, firehouses and a local pharmacy.
Throughout the crisis, Maspeth Federal has stayed open with many precautionary measures put into place. Social distancing was established early on, while employees worked behind safety glass. More than half of the staff was also able to work remotely.
The winners of the COVID-19 Community Giving Award come from all over Queens, from Maspeth to Forest Hills to Bayside. The individual recipients also range in occupations, from nurses to paramedics and sanitation truck drivers.
The small business award winners included:
• Prince Umberto’s Pizzeria,
Franklin Square - Donated to various nonprofit organizations, as well as 4,000 breakfast meals.
• 69th Lane Pilates Studio,
Maspeth - Owner checked in on senior citizen clients every week and delivered masks to those who didn’t have any.
• The Avenue Bar & Restaurant,
Glendale - Created a “Thank-AHealthcare Worker” program and delivered lunch bags to workers at Wyckoff Heights Hospital.
• Shabulixius Restaurant, Bayside - During quarantine, the owner/chef made and donated meals to hospitals around the city.
• Steve’s Deli, Middle Village - Donated food to Wyckoff Heights Hospital at the height of the pandemic.
• Our Lady of Mercy Church,
Forest Hills - Met spiritual needs of people by holding virtual masses, and offered food and monetary assistance to those who need it.
• The Hungry Monk, Ridge
wood - Delivered food to the needy and homeless, and sponsored a food bank three days a week.
• Grand Avenue Pharmacy,
Maspeth - Staff was wonderful, helpful, and courteous during the height of the pandemic.
• Tap House Bar, Forest Hills - Made and delivered free meals to staff at Elmhurst and Forest Hills hospitals.
• Ma Kin Thai Restaurant,
Middle Village - Made food for several hospitals and set up a table with free pad Thai for anyone who couldn’t afford it.
QUEENS CULTURAL GROUPS COUNTER COVID
It looks like a long, hot summer is ahead for New Yorkers. No camp. Bad economy. Few entertainment options. Queens feels the pain, but the borough’s creative community is making some delicious lemonade out of lemons with online programs. And in a clear sign that times are changing, one program is outdoors!
Socrates Sculpture
Park: Located near the Astoria-Long Island City border, this is New York City’s only public area dedicated to displaying largescale creations. It’s also open! Go there to see mind-expanding sculptures.
July 10 – March 2021,
Monuments Now. This exhibition features queer, indigenous, and diasporic narratives. In the first phase, three artists - 2019 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grantee Jeffrery Gibson, Hunter College Associate Professor Paul Ramírez Jonas, and Agnes Gund Art for Justice Award Winner Xaviera Simmons – will unveil commissioned works on July 10. Then more sculptures, chosen via an open call competition, and a piece by local teenagers will pop up on October 10. Related performances and workshops are also on tap.
Queensborough Performing
Arts Center: This Bayside concert hall is streaming shows on Friday nights at 7 pm. All the events feature live music followed by Q&A sessions with the artists.
July 10, Up Close With Yaniv
Zarif. This extraordinary entertainer, who sings in 32 languages, will do everything from Broadway to pop.
July 17, Judy
Carmichael. This Grammy-nominated pianist/vocalist will play favorites from the Great American Songbook and jazz. She loves to tell stories, so expect to hear why Count Basie nicknamed her “Stride.”
July 24, Love Is A Rose: Celebrating the Music of Linda
Ronstadt. Blues-rockers Paula Hanke and Peggy Ratusz dig deep to bring authenticity to Ronstadt’s 28-album catalog of music.
July 31, A Band Called Honalee:
The Music of Peter, Paul & Mary. This modern-day folk trio promises a musical oasis for the soul.
Dance Entropy: The Long Island City-based culture-and-performance space strives to build a community of artists and promote emerging troupes. In July, it will offer a form of virtual camp.
July 13-17, Summer Dance Intensive. Geared toward every skill level, campers can take two classes per day. At 10 am, Artistic Director Valerie Green will lead a choreography workshop centered on movement and tools that stimu
A BAND CALLED HONALEE
late the mind and body to improvise and generate new ideas. Then at 1 p.m., teaching artists will lead a 90-minute Street Styles engagement. The upbeat class will include Afro Beat, Commercial Hip-Hop, Funk, House, and Urban Freestyle.
Lewis Latimer House Museum: This Flushing nonprofit honors its namesake, who helped invent the telephone and lightbulb, by offering the Summer STEAM Series.
July 10, Music Makers
Workshop, 1 pm. Queens Council on the Arts Honoree Claire Lim teaches how to make electronic music. Lim, who describes herself as a “technologist,” fuses electronica, hip-hop, future bass, K-pop and dance music to create her art. She paints original soundscapes with synths, drum machines, and controllers.
July 17, Engineering with
Paper, 1 pm. Using only paper, tape, and scissors, participants will learn a paper engineering “alphabet” of techniques and then transform ordinary supplies into fun projects.
Queens College: The Flushing university’s Hellenic American Project is dedicated to researching, documenting, and presenting the Greek-American community. It’s streaming an homage to nurturing.
Life Giving Art: 9 Women Artists
of the Diaspora is a virtual show celebrates women who support and nurture others without being their biological mothers. The contributors contemplated the Greek Diaspora and their personal visions of motherhood when creating the pieces for this show.
They include mixed media artist Eozen Agopian; visual artist, architect, and interior designer Helen Daferera; mixed-media information artist Nicole Economides; sculptor and installation artist Eleni Giannopoulou; sculptor and ceramicist Morfy Gkikas; painter Despina Konstantinides; mixed media artist Despo Magoni; photographer Aphrodite Navab; and sculptor and painter Sophia Vari.
