Rajkumar teams up with charitable organization to distribute
laptops to Richmond Hill families displaced by December fi re
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
On Friday, Feb. 12, State
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar
and Zara Realty Charitable
Foundation of Queens
distributed 13 Samsung
Chromebooks to children of
the families displaced by a
six-alarm fire that destroyed
six buildings at 109-25 Jamaica
Ave., in Richmond Hill on
Dec. 10, 2020.
Outside her office on Woodhaven
Boulevard in Woodhaven,
Rajkumar said that she
was proud to partner with Zara
Realty Charitable Foundation
and provide the students with
the necessary technological
tools for their education. She
also underlined that it was her
top priority to make sure that
Richmond Hill, which has
been underserved for decades,
receives all the resources it
needs.
Rajkumar said that a plan
is in the works to bring a vaccination
program to get all
residents of south Queens,
which has one of the highest
COVID-19 rates in the city.
“We are working every
day to help the community
through the pandemic, and
that includes making sure
that the education of children
is not interrupted,” she said.
“So the Chromebooks today
will ensure that they can continue
to learn through remote
learning. A tool like that can
open up a whole new world to
a child.”
Rajkumar and her office
stepped into action after the
blaze, turning her office into a
donation site, which soon was
filled with coats, clothes, food,
and gift cards to help the families
get through this difficult
time. Rajkumar and her staff
worked with the Red Cross,
ensuring that the displaced
families were doing well in
their emergency shelter.
“We then began working to
help people interact with HPD
to move into temporary shelters.
Our office was here to
provide support at every step,”
Rajkumar explained, stressing
that it was a community
effort to help out the families.
Arleen Burgos and her family
couldn’t thank Rajkumar
and the community enough
for all the support they received
after the fire.
“It’s been very traumatic
After losing their possessions in a six-alarm fire in Richmond Hill in December 2020, children received new laptops provided by
Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar and Zara Realty Charitable Foundation of Queens. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
for us and the children.
Now with these laptops, it is
amazing. Now my children
can continue with their education.
This is perfect for us.
Anything helps right now.”
The Queens native explained
that they are currently
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | FEB. 19-FEB. 25, 2021
staying with her mom but
are moving to a new home in
North Carolina next week.
“It is a little difficult to find
anything out here because
everything is overpriced. So,
I’m hoping for the best,” the
mother of four said.
Sherry Algredo, a longtime
leader on education issues
in south Queens and
vice-chair of Community
Board 9, played an instrumental
part in the donation
effort. She learned about
Tony Subraj and Zara Realty
Charitable Foundation
through another educator
and thought it would be great
if his foundation could donate
laptops to the children.
She connected him with Assemblywoman
Rajkumar,
who brought the donation effort
together.
“There is so much we can
do as a community, but you
have to have a good community
leader. You can’t do it
without great leadership,”
Algredo said, referring to the
Assemblywoman.
Nafisa, a 16-year-old high
school junior, was relieved to
receive a new Chromebook.
“I now can get my work
done on time, and I don’t have
to keep getting extensions
from my teachers,” she said.
Even though the fire uprooted
her and her family
— they are currently staying
in a temporary shelter in the
Bronx — she was grateful
that everyone got out of the
situation unscathed.
“Leaving someone behind
would have been very painful,
but I’m grateful that nobody
was lost in the fire,”
Nafisa added.
Scaffolding supports the buildings that were destroyed in a six-alarm fire at Jamaica Avenue and
110th Street in Richmond Hill on Dec. 10, 2020. Photo by Gabrielle Holtermann
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