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Nov. 13-Nov. 19, 2020
Queens organizer secures $50K grant
for Astoria’s Variety Boys and Girls Club
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
The New York Life Foundation
awarded Variety Boys and
Girls Club of Queens a $50,000
Love Takes Action grant,
thanks to a designation by Jaime
Faye Bean, the executive
director of Sunnyside Shines
Business Improvement District
and co-founder of Queens
Together.
“Variety is grateful to the
New York Life Foundation
and our amazing partner and
friend Jaime Faye-Bean for
sharing this reward with our
organization,” said Andy Rodriguez,
executive director of
the Variety Boys & Girls Club.
“This reward will help us continue
serving our community
and change the lives of many
families in need during these
difficult times.”
Bean secured the grant for
the youth center after being
named one of 35 individuals
across the nation as “Love
Takes Action” awardees.
The Love Takes Action
Award program awards $50,000
to local nonprofit organizations,
which are championed
by New York Life Foundation
(NYL) agents and employees.
The 35 individuals who were
recognized from across the
nation embodying Love Taking
Action, in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, were able
to select a nonprofit to receive
the grant from NYL.
NYL agents Veronique Verscheure
and Yuka Yamashita
chose to nominate Bean because
of her role in strengthening
local small businesses
and in spearheading food relief
efforts in western Queens
during the pandemic. They
have worked with Bean for
two years, and cite her work
Photo courtesy of Queens Together
in Sunnyside Shines as reason
alone to nominate her.
But it was during the height
of COVID-19, when Bean cofounded
Queens Together
to not only keep restaurants
alive but also help feed frontline
workers then the most
at-risk community members,
that they saw how impactful
her work is.
“Since mid-March, under
Jaime’s leadership, Queens
Together has delivered 30,000
meals to families and frontline
healthcare workers in
Queens. But most importantly,
Queens Together has been
putting money into the local
economy at a time when small
businesses are in extreme crisis.
The meals funded through
Queens Together are giving
restaurant partners a lifeline,
allowing these businesses to
keep employees on the payroll
while also rebuilding resilience,”
said Yamashita. “While
being calm, her passion for
the community, creativity to
come up with fresh ideas, and
acumen in connecting dots
has made impossible possible.
She has done so much for the
community and we were 200
percent sure that she deserves
this honor and recognition
when we nominated her. And
we were right.”
Bean, in turn, thought of
Variety Boys & Girls Club for
their partnership during the
pandemic.
“I chose them because
they’re a great organization,
and I did a lot of my work with
them,” Bean told QNS. “They
were super responsive and
generous, at a time when lots
of other centers were closing
their doors for other reasons.
They were always there.”
The Variety Boys & Girls
Club worked with Bean and
other volunteers to deliver
prepared meals to residents of
Astoria Houses during spring
and summer of 2020. In May
2020, the Club expanded their
partnership with Bean to allow
for launch of the Queens
Together Food Pantry at their
Teen Center, providing fresh
produce and pantry staples to
around 500 local families per
week.
The grant will support the
organization’s programs —
including food relief, virtual
after-school and more — to
empower youth in western
Queens during the pandemic.
The Variety Boys & Girls
Club, located at 21-12 30th Rd.,
has been an anchor in the
Astoria and Long Island City
community for 65 years, offering
children a safe space to
learn, play and grow into tomorrow’s
leaders. Since openings
its doors, it has upheld a
strong tradition of community
leadership to make a different
in the lives of young people.
Vol. 8 No. 46 40 total pages
/QNS.COM
