FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 12, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
Queens organizer secures $50K grant
for Astoria’s Variety Boys and Girls Club
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e 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 cofounder
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. “Th is reward
will help us continue serving our community
and change the lives of many families
in need during these diffi cult times.”
Bean secured the grant for the youth
center aft er being named one of 35 individuals
across the nation as “Love Takes
Action” awardees.
Th e Love Takes Action Award program
awards $50,000 to local nonprofit
organizations, which are championed
by New York Life Foundation (NYL)
agents and employees. Th e 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 nonprofi t 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 eff orts in western Queens during
the pandemic. Th ey have worked with
Bean for two years, and cite her work in
Sunnyside Shines as reason alone to nominate
her.
But it was during the height of COVID-
19, when Bean co-founded 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. Th e 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. “Th ey were
super responsive and generous, at a time
when lots of other centers were closing
their doors for other reasons. Th ey were
always there.”
Th e 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.
Th e grant will support the organization’s
programs — including food relief, virtual
aft er-school and more — to empower youth
in western Queens during the pandemic.
Th e 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, off ering 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 diff erent in the
lives of young people.
Photo courtesy of Queens Together
Queens Together delivers Fresh Direct pantry boxes to Astoria Houses.
Photo courtesy of Queens Together
Sunnyside Small Business Supreme Team Boxing delivers Queens Together fi rst responder meals to
Elmhurst.
buzz
Photo courtesy of Queens Together
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