On Saturday, June 19, the community based organization City Island Rising Inc. hosted an
electronics recycling event. The event, co-sponsored by EcoTech Management and the Bronx
Solid Waste Advisory Board, was held outside of the small business 239Play at 239 City Island
Ave. The event was extremely successful with hundreds of items being collected from
City Islanders and the surrounding communities. In all, 5,957 pounds of electronic material
will now be properly recycled by EcoTech Management and kept out of our landfi lls. “I want
to thank all of our volunteers and partners who participated in this event,” said John Doyle,
of City Island Rising. “The event was extremely successful, beyond any of our expectations
and we plan to host another event next year.”
From left, two EcoTech Management workers, Victoria Curcio, of Ecotech Management, Beverly
BRONX TIMES R 30 EPORTER, JULY 9-15, 2021 BTR
From left, Aya Morales, co-founder of Start LIghthouse, Abdel and Adel Rahman, and Rina Madhani, executive
director and co-founder of Start Lighthouse, pose with fun and educational items. Photo Jewel Webber
(insert above)Packaged items containing books, crayons, pencils and other items were handed out to attendees
at the community literacy event. Photo Jewel Webber Photo Jewel Webber
Jones, John Doyle, Kim Woodruff and Luisa Benedetto of City Island Rising Inc.
Photo courtesy John Doyle
BY BRONX TIMES
Start Lighthouse hosted a
Literacy For All community
event, on June 26, at Pontiac
Playground in the Bronx. At the
event, Start Lighthouse distributed
brand new multicultural
books in packages fi lled with
crayons and pencils. The program
offered a variety of books
for the various age groups in
attendance. The young adults
were very excited to receive
these treats.
Mott Haven Community
Fridge was also at the event.
Dan Zauderer, founder of Mott
Haven Community Fridge, and
his volunteers distributed food
to those on site. As the city continues
to return to some level of
normalcy, there are still those in
need; Start Lighthouse and Mott
Haven Community Fridge were
to help meet those needs.
Start Lighthouse was founded
at the height of the pandemic in
March 2020 by a team of passionate
and dedicated individuals
who envision a community
where literacy and destiny are
not defi ned by race or zip code.
They tackle some of the key factors
driving childhood illiteracy
by providing schools with programming,
parents and caretakers
with literacy learning at
home, and children with literacy
kits throughout the year.
The organization also just received
a $10,000 grant towards
its programming from Communitas
America! Communitas
America is a social impact nonprofi
t organization that, like
Start Lighthouse, is based in the
Bronx and aims to increase access
to resources for women and
people of color in underserved
communities.
Rina Madhani, executive director
and co-founder of Start
Lighthouse, participated in
Communitas’ accelerator program,
which aids persons of
color social entrepreneurs in
their efforts to effect positive
change in their community
by providing them with workshops,
seminars, consultations
and networking events.
“This program was transformational
for me as a founder and
entrepreneur,” Madhani said.
“I have met so many incredible
individuals over the past three
months who have reminded me
to be fearless when pursuing
our dreams.”
-with reporting by Jewel Webber
Jessica Clemente, CEO of We Stay/Nos Quedamos speaks at a rally at City Hall on June 29,
to push for full funding support for the New York City Community Land Initiative, a citywide
coalition of community land trusts. The City Council subsequently approved 1.5 million to
the community land trusts line item under HPD. The coalition currently has community land
trusts; two are based in the Bronx — South Bronx Land and Community Resource Trust, in
Melrose, and Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards. Photo courtesy Edwin Pagan
CITY ISLAND RISING HOSTS ELECTRONICS
RECYCLING EVENT
PEOPLE POWER
Start Lighthouse hosts ‘Literacy For All’ event