Building Skills New York’s Worker of the Month
BRONX TIMES R 42 EPORTER, MARCH 6-12, 2020 BTR
Andrew Hutchinson has been named Building Skills New York’s February
Worker of the Month Photo courtesy of Building Sills New York
Building Skills New
York, a non-profi t organization
working to provide underserved
New Yorkers with good
paying jobs, announced that
Bronx February Worker of the
Month is Andrew Hutchinson.
Hutchinson has been employed
on several worksites
since connecting with Building
Skills in 2018, including
the St. Barnabas Hospital project
in the Belmont sectuib. He
currently works as a tile helper
for Arker Companies on the
40 Debevoise Street project in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Hutchinson was able to secure
his OSHA-30, fall prevention
training, and drug and
alcohol awareness training
through Building Skills.
Building Skills recently
announced their total number
of 2019 job placements was
340, up 45 percent from 2018.
Building Skills helps New
Yorkers fi nd work through
free job training and job placement
services. Additionally,
Building Skills continues to
provide on-the-job support to
each worker as they seek to
broaden their skillset and advance
their construction career.
* * *
Do you need help getting
to and from your medical appointments?
Transportation
services are available to seniors
Monday through Friday,
8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in community
districts 9, 10, 11 and 12. The
program provides door-todoor
service for all medical appointments.
Their drivers are
courteous and professional;
and their vehicles are clean
and handicap accessible, including
wheelchair lifts.
For further information,
contact Mildred Cardona, program
director of the R.A.I.N.
Transportation Program, at
(718) 882-8513.
* * *
Stop by picturesque City
Island and enjoy the exciting
programs offered at the PSS
City Island Center, which is
located at 116 City Island Avenue,
Monday through Friday
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Experience
the exercise classes from
gentle Yoga Stretch, Balance
Class, Arthritis Workshop
and Tai Chi as well as the vigorous
Fit For Life and Cardio
Fit. They also offer acrylic
painting, calligraphy, health
presentations, blood pressure
monitoring, gardening
exchange, singing group and
parties. Lunch is served from
noon to 1 p.m. suggested donation
is $2. The center participants
go on shopping trips every
day; i.e. Shop Rite, Dollar
Tree, Target, Kmart, as well
as theatre excursions, special
trips, special luncheons
and more. It’s free to become
a member, but you must be 60
years of age or above.
Special Events: Friday,
March 13 at 1 p.m., Falls Prevention
Presentation; Gardening
Exchange club resumes
Wednesday, March 18 at 1 p.m.
For more information contact
Patty at (718) 885-0727 or
email pattis@pssusa.org for
their monthly calendar.
* * *
Community Board 6 is
partnering with Tanima Productions
to offer free Ballet
Classes for the community for
ages 5 to 19. Space is extremely
limited and interested parents
must email bronxcb6@
bronxcb6.org to register. Registration
forms can also be
picked up at our offi ce at 1932
Arthur Avenue, Room 403-A.
The attire for the students
is black leggings and t-shirts
and ballet shoes. The shoes can
be purchased through Tanima
Productions or through
another retail seller.
Classes are held Mondays
and Tuesdays through June
23, and are held at the Mary
Mitchell Family and Youth
Center, 2007 Mapes Avenue
(East 178th Street), from 6:30
to 8:30 p.m.
* * *
Food Bank for New York
City’s Board of Directors has
selected Leslie Gordon as the
organization’s new president
and chief executive offi cer.
For more than a decade, Leslie
has led efforts to feed our
neighbors in need in New
York City and surrounding
communities. Most recently
she served as president and
chief executive offi cer of Feeding
Westchester, Westchester
County’s largest anti-hunger
organization.
Over the past three years,
Leslie has taken Feeding
Westchester to new heights by
challenging the team to think
boldly as they chart a course
for the future, and creating a
special culture that is highly
collaborative and inclusive.
Leslie led the charge to rebrand
the county’s leading
nonprofi t hunger-relief organization
to better communicate
the breadth of its work.
Under Leslie’s leadership,
the organization increased
the amount of fresh produce
to more than 40 percent, and
upped the amount of food distributed
by 20 percent – more
than the average food bank in
the nation. Leslie also forged
cutting-edge, strategic alliances
with non-food partners
– specifi cally with health institutions
– large and small.
Leslie previously served
as the senior director of Program
Strategy and Operations
at City Harvest, where she
helped pioneer a new strategy
that positioned the organization
to double the amount of
food distributed annually, led
the organization’s ‘Healthy
Neighborhoods’ program and
oversaw the growth of its volunteer
program from 6,000
to nearly 20,000 volunteers.
Prior to that she was executive
director of Best Buddies Pennsylvania
and the founding director
of Made in the Hudson
Valley. She also served under
General Colin Powell as national
director of America’s
Promise – The Alliance for
Youth.
Leslie will join Food Bank
on Monday, March 30, and follows
outgoing leader, Margarette
Purvis, who served in
the role for more than eight
years.
* * *
On Wednesday, February
19, Woodlawn Cemetery
hosted a special screening of
the Netfl ix limited series, Self
Made: Inspired by the Life of
Madam C.J. Walker, the African
American trailblazing
entrepreneur and America’s
fi rst female self-made millionaire,
along with a panel discussion,
at Woodlawn, 3800
Jerome Avenue. Madam C.J.
Walker, entrepreneur, philanthropist,
political and social
activist is buried at Woodlawn
Cemetery.
A’Lelia Bundles, her greatgreat
granddaughter, book
author and member of Woodlawn’s
Board of Directors, appeared
on the panel that was
held in the Woodlawn Woolworth
Building. Ms. Bundles’
book, On Her Own Ground:
The Life and Times of Madam
C.J. Walker, a New York Times
Notable Book about her entrepreneurial
great-great-grandmother,
is the inspiration for
a four-part Netfl ix series starring
Oscar-winner Octavia
Spencer to premiere globally
on Netfl ix on Friday, March
20.
Mitch Rose, president and
chief executive offi cer and
trustee of The Woodlawn
Cemetery & Conservancy, welcomed
the guests to Woodlawn.
Bevy Smith, television personality
and creator of Dinner
with Bevy, was the panel moderator.
In addition to Bundles,
panelists at the Woodlawn
premiere event included Janine
Sherman Barrois, (executive
producer); Elle Johnson,
(executive producer); Nicole
Jefferson Asher, (co-executive
producer) and Kasi Lemmons,
(executive producer and director).
The Netfl ix limited series,
Self-Made: Inspired by the Life
of Madam C.J. Walker, brings
the uplifting story of this cultural
icon to the screen for the
fi rst time. Against all odds,
Walker overcame post-slavery
racial and gender biases, personal
betrayals, and business
rivalries to build a groundbreaking
brand that revolutionized
black haircare, as
she simultaneously fought for
social change. The four-part
limited series also stars Blair
Underwood as her husband
C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish
as her daughter Lelia, Carmen
Ejogo as Walker’s business rival
Addie Munroe, Garrett
Morris as Walker’s father-inlaw,
Kevin Carroll as her longtime
lawyer Freeman Ransom
and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s
cousin Sweetness.
Self Made: Inspired by
the Life of Madam C.J.
Walker produced by SpringHill
Entertainment and Wonder
Street in association with
Warner Bros. Television is
helmed by co-showrunners
Elle Johnson and Janine
Sherman Barrois, along with
writer and co-executive producer
Nicole Jefferson Asher,
directed by Kasi Lemmons
and DeMane Davis, and executive
produced by Janine
Sherman Barrois, Elle Johnson,
Maverick Carter, LeBron
James, Octavia Spencer, Mark
Holder, Christine Holder, Kasi
Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson.
For more information, visit
www.Woodlawn.org.
* * *
Effective Monday, March
2, all students and school personnel
at any Catholic school
in the Archdiocese of New
York returning from international
travel are required to
get written medical clearance
from their physician before
returning to school. Parents
must submit this written medical
clearance letter signed
and stamped by a licensed
physician to the principal.
* * *
The Bronx River District
of the Boy Scouts of America
presents on Saturday,
March 7, at St. Helena Church,
a Boy Scout Merit Badge Fair
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., a Cub
Scout Belt-loop Bonanza from
9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a Working
With Scouts with Special
Needs Interactive Adult Workshop
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.. For
more information call Fr. David
Powers at (718) 892-3232
* * *
The Department of Youth
& Community Development
Commissioner Bill Chong announced
that applications
are available for the Summer
Youth Employment Program
(SYEP), the nation’s largest
summer youth employment
initiative. New York City residents
between the ages of 14 to
24 can complete applications
online (www.nyc.gov/syep) or
at participating communitybased
organizations. The sixweek
program runs from July
6 through August 15.
Employers and worksites
looking to support New York
City’s youth employment
programs, including SYEP,
should visit www.nyc.gov/
syep or the Center for Youth
Employment’s website (www.
nyc.gov/cye).
For additional information,
call DYCD Youth Connect
(1-800-246-4646 or 646-343-
6800).
* * *
Twenty-four Con Edison
employees have received industry
awards for fi ndings
that will improve electrical
service, enhance worker and
public safety and help energy
companies fend off cyberattacks.
The employees each earned
a Technology Transfer Award
from the Electric Power Research
Institute, an organization
that supports the safe, reliable
and effi cient delivery of
electricity to customers.
Con Edison is a subsidiary
of Consolidated Edison,
Inc. NYSE: ED, one of the nation’s
largest investor-owned
energy companies, with approximately
$13 billion in annual
revenues and $58 billion
in assets. The utility delivers
electricity, natural gas
and steam to 3.5 million customers
in New York City and
Westchester County, N.Y. For
fi nancial, operations and customer
service information,
visit https://www.coned.com/
en.
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