72 The Queens Courier • kids & education • MAY 28, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Students raise $2K for Nepal earthquake victims s kids & education Photo courtesy of the Garden School Members of the Garden School Key Club presented a $2,000 check to Adhikaar Program Coordinator, Raji Pokhrel. BY THE QUENS COURIER STAF editorial@queenscourier.com/@QueensCourier A local nonprofit benefiting communities from Nepal received a $2,000 donation from the Garden School Key Club to go toward relief efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the South Asian country last month. A group of students at the pre-K to 12th-grade school, located at 33-16 79th St. in Jackson Heights, were motivated to help out after hearing of the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25 and saw a death toll of more than 7,000 people. The Garden School Key Club led the fundraising efforts and students, particularly ninth-grader Aneesh D., mobilized in a multi-component initiative which included a soccer match pitting faculty members against their pupils, a “change jug”in the school hallway and solicitation of donations from the community. The school administration was very encouraging of the students and praised their commitment to the Garden School’s mission of “social involvement.” Councilman Daniel Dromm helped the Garden School students to identify Adhikaar, an nonprofit benefiting the Nepali community in New York, as a local organization which would help the donations get to those most in need. Adhikaar Program Coordinator Raji Pokhrel gratefully accepted the donation and spoke to students on progress being made to relieve the damage done to the country and the continued need for aid from the international community. Councilman Vallone introduces new student ambassadors BY ALINA SURIEL asuriel@queenscourier.com @alinangelica Councilman Paul Vallone introduced last week a group of high school students that will be working in his office during the second year of his Educational Ambassador Program. “I couldn’t be prouder of my student ambassadors and all the work they’ve accomplished in the first year,” Vallone said. “They played such an important role in supporting every aspect of the work our office does and I look forward to seeing our new group achieve their great potential.” There are nine students participating this year from three different high schools. Ambassadors Abbas Husain, Hongju Choi, Kean Gibbons and Jennifer Kim are from Bayside High School; Erika Donis, Rawlanda Hinds and David Legunsa attend World Journalism Preparatory School; and Daniel Bosko and Josh Santis study at Holy Cross High School. The inaugural year of the student ambassador program saw teens experiencing different aspects of a city council member’s responsibilities through the expanded program in Vallone’s office. The first student ambassadors played a critical role in organizing a toy drive for Saint Mary’s Hospital for Children and helping to put on the Holiday Parade & Winter Festival on Bell Boulevard. Student ambassadors also had an integral part in the participatory budgeting process by spreading awareness about the process and staffing multiple voting sites. Thanks to students’ efforts to increase the visibility of participatory budgeting, Vallone noted, District 19 had a 2015 voter turnout of over 1,000 residents to award funds for locally developed capital projects. Photo courtesy of Councilman Paul Vallone’s office Student ambassadors chosen to work with Paul Vallone pose with the councilman and their proud principals and teachers.
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