Happy Birthday Upstanders!
One-year old NST Organization Celebrates with Resident “Meet and Greet”
BY JILL DAVIS
This fledgling group of North
Shore Towers’ go-getters has gotten
off to a phenomenal start. In the
one short year of the Upstanders’
existence, they have orchestrated
food drives and clothing drives for
charity and brought in noteworthy
corporate and political speakers to
inform and educate North Shore
Towers’ residents. And all during a
pandemic, mind you.
It was only fitting that their
accomplishments be shared, and
so on August 10, Buffy’s tent was
filled with approximately 80 NST
residents who came to mix, mingle
and learn more about the organization.
Upstanders founders Carol
Meyerson, Merle Levy and Priscilla
Smith explained to the audience
how they came up with the concept.
Priscilla said, “We wanted to do
something during the pandemic.
The three of us met and talked about
plans for charity, education, and
so forth.” Merle said, “We wanted
to be activists,” and remembered
thinking at the time, “There must
be other people who feel like we
do.” Carol added that they quickly
found those other people who felt
the same. “People wanted to do
something…they really wanted to,”
she said.
The group started out modestly
in the summer of 2020 with the
original “Three Musketeers,” soon
followed by about another dozen
interested people. “The group
really took off after the Ruth Bader
Ginsburg Memorial we held in
October 2020,” Carol explained.
And last month’s Meet and Greet
certainly made an impression.
“We now have over 100 members,”
Carol said. Amazing!
Getting the August 10 event
up and running was a collaborative
effort among 12 dedicated
Upstanders. In addition to Vernetta
Nelson, who got the whole thing
going (see Sidebar), Judy Schwager
and Carol Braksmajor worked on
publicity, while Adele Birnbaum
was behind the scenes making sure
i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed
and greeted guests at the event .
A main attraction was guest
lecturer Dr. Nurit Israeli, a very
popular and highly respected NST
resident who is well-known for
her insightful monthly column in
the North Shore Towers Courier.
Nurit’s topic was, appropriately,
“Altruism” and its wide spectrum
of meaning, from extreme acts of
heroism to small gestures of giving.
The audience was riveted throughout
her talk, which was very educational
and peppered with humor.
“Similar to other acts that are
pleasant,” Nurit remarked, “volunteerism
can become addictive.”
Nurit has graciously agreed to
share her full article on the topic
of altruism, which currently has the
working title, “What We Get When
We Give,” in the October issue of
the paper. Hey, we can all learn a
thing or two!
A Q&A session wrapped up the
afternoon, which Merle kicked off
with the question, “Where do we
go from here?” A number of ideas
were generated, including timing
food drives to dovetail with major
holidays; book drives; toy drives for
children; and adopting an animal
shelter. “But,” Merle said, “We
can’t do this by ourselves.”
So, if you want to get involved in
this fast-moving, forward-thinking
organization, stand up and contact:
Merle Levy: 347-235-4413 - merlelevy22@
gmail.com
Carol Meyerson: 516-313-0016
- cmeyer931@icloud.com
Priscilla Smith: 516-728-6176 -
Priscilla.cg.smith@gmail.com
VERNETTA NELSON,
UPSTANDER PAR EXCELLENCE
BY JUDITH SCHWAGER
Charming and soft-spoken,
Vernetta Nelson shuns the spotlight,
but not the hard work that
ends in successful efforts. A resident
of North Shore Towers since
2006, she was one of the earliest
members of what was then called
the “Bystanders” group, attracted
by our mission for advocacy and
action “to address social issues
that concern us.”
Of course, Vernetta has never
neglected taking an active role in
her community. She is a long-time
board member of the Queens
YMCA. Several years ago, she
said, “I realized that the youth
in my community had one foot
in school and one foot in jail and
I wanted to help save them.” So
she went to Queens Family Court
and explained her plan for a program
called Youth Empowerment
to mentor young people who had
cases before the court. If a student
finished the program, they
received a certificate which they
could bring to court and have
their case expunged. Over the five
years she ran the program, she
helped more than 350 young people.
It was so successful the Board
initiated a $5 million program
called Y Roads
based on her
program and
expanded it to
include earning
a GED.
No wonder,
then, that
Vernetta was
the perfect person
to quietly
Vernetta
Nelson
Photo by Dawn
Steinberg
suggest a “Tea” to celebrate the
Upstanders’ first year of achievements
and to thank the Towers’
residents for their generosity in
donating to our several drives to
aid a variety of social service organizations.
Of course, we had never
done anything like this before and
had only about six weeks to pull
it together. Vernetta was the force
behind the several committees
organizing the afternoon, always
asking for suggestions, listening to
differing opinions and adjusting
as conditions changed. Every
Upstander has been working
diligently, but it is Vernetta who
made sure we didn’t overlook
any detail. From reservations,
refreshments and programming
to, most importantly, assuring that
“everyone would feel welcome” at
our “Meet and Greet.”
The afternoon was a great
success, filled with lots of new
Upstanders and new friends.
Thanks, Vernetta!
Photo by Carol Braksmajor
Upstanders August 10 Organizing Committee: Standing (l To r) Carol
Meyerson, Vernetta Nelson, Adele Birnbaum, Shelly Horne, Bobbie
Gould, Francine Gordon, June Stelboum and Priscilla Smith Seated (l
to r) Merle Levy, Judy Schwager, Fay Nadel and Virginia Malmstrom
Photo by Dawn Steinberg
Upstanders Founders (l to r):
Carol Meyerson, Priscilla Smith
and Merle Levy
Photo by Dawn Steinberg
Dr. Nurit Israeli speaking at the
August 10 event
September 2021 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 19
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