FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 11, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
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Southeast Queens organization hosts food giveaway in Jamaica
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Southeast Queens Empowerment
Training Program hosted a community
food and PPE distribution event for
food-insecure community members on
Th ursday, Feb. 4, in Jamaica.
Yvette Greene-Dennis, the executive
vice president of program management for
Th e Crescent Companies and head of the
Southeast Queens Empowerment Training
Program, used her connections to get a sizable
number of companies to donate food,
money and volunteers for the event.
Community members began lining up
at 9 a.m. outside the Th omas White Jr.
Foundation parking lot, which was still
covered in snow and ice aft er a powerful
winter storm battered New York City on
Monday. Hold Construction and Royal
Waste Services stepped up and cleared the
lot with the help of laborers and volunteers,
and Greene-Dennis was more than
grateful for their support.
“I’m giving full props to them. Because
without them, the event would not be
happening today,” Greene-Dennis said.
More than 20 volunteers handed out
bread, water, sweets, frozen salmon and
whitefi sh, and chicken to the residents of
a neighborhood that was among the hardest
hit by the coronavirus. One woman
explained that she had lost several family
members to COVID-19 and that the food
drive was a lifeline for her.
For Chris Asaro, the president of Holt,
the food drive was the fi rst event of that
kind he sponsored. His company normally
supports the community with job
placements.
“It’s a great thing,” Asaro said. “It’s what
we do because we are a family-oriented
company.”
Abdulla Darrat, the senior vice president
at Renewal Construction Services, explained
that his company has a long working relationship
with the community, providing
training sessions and employment.
“We donate whenever there is a need
for it, whether it’s back-to-school events
or during the holidays giving out turkeys.
We look forward to staying involved
with Yvette and Crescent as well as southeast
Queens,” Darrat said.
Michael Duncan works with FACA
Supermarket, which donated bread,
chicken leg quarters and whiting fi sh.
“We are a community business, and the
community supports us a lot. So we want
to make sure that a certain percentage
goes back,” he said. “Any group that asks,
we always accommodate them.”
Sponsors and donors included:
• Th e Port Authority of NY and NY
• National Standard Abstract
• R.F. Wilkins
• Royal Waster
• Steamfi tters LU638
• Law Offi ce of Erick V. Ladson PLLC
• Glendale United Christian
• Ernie and Claire Grimes
• Herb and Marilyn Witterech
• Omni NY, LLC
• RCGA Architects
• Farnum’s Finest
• Adamah Gallery Seafood
• Posillico Construction
• Holt Construction
• First Choice Mechanical
• Highway Safety Protection Corp.
• Crescent Consulting
• Th e Th omas White Jr. Foundation
• Southeast Queens Empowerment
Training Program
• GMA Electrical
• Schneps Media
• Zaremba Brown PLLC
• Gladberry’s Handmade
• Aqueous Solutions
• FACA Supermarket
• Connect Workshops
• SafeConnectUS
• Macedonia AME Church
• Afro Contracting and Demo
• Innovative Green Technologies
• Orange County Ironworks
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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