40 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JUNE 11, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
COVID-19 pandemic fuels Zoom dating boom, experts say
Photo via Getty Images
Cardozo senior awarded scholarship for volunteer eff orts at senior homes
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A Benjamin Cardozo High School
senior won a national scholarship for her
volunteer eff orts providing companionship
and beauty makeovers to women in
senior homes in Queens.
Aliya Masihuddin is one of fi ve teens
across the country presented with a
$1,000 scholarship at the virtual 16th
Annual Glammy Scholarship Awards on
May 30 organized by the GlamourGals
Foundation. Th e nonprofi t organization
inspires and organizes teens to combat
elder isolation through one-onone
makeovers and manicures at senior
homes, and grants scholarships to exemplary
volunteers within the organization.
“I am truly honored and grateful for
this meaningful award,” Masihuddin said.
“Looking back to my fi rst makeover,
makes me realize how much I have grown
through this amazing organization.”
Masihuddin began GlamourGals as a
timid freshman terrifi ed of experiences,
she said. But the new experience transformed
her into a great leader realizing
her love for volunteer work. Masihuddin,
who will be attending CUNY City
College’s Sophie Davis BS/MD program
this fall, has gone above and beyond as
the president of her GlamourGals chapter
raising awareness for the GlamourGals
mission, helping to ensure that the seniors
she served at Ozanam Hall in Bayside felt
“valued, appreciated and beautiful” aft er
every visit.
Th ough she was scared at her fi rst
makeover with a senior who complained
about the texture of the fi rst nail polish
she selected, Masihuddin showed her that
she was ready to listen and be a friend.
“It totally changed her demeanor
and this is the great part about being
a GlamourGal — she told her adviser
that I was the kindest volunteer she had
ever met,” Masihuddin said. Aft er experiencing
how a simple act of kindness
can spread endless positivity, Masihuddin
was encouraged to further GlamourGals’
mission of ending senior loneliness.
Masihuddin and her fellow
GlamourGals board members began creating
craft s, such as paper fl owers and
glitter ornaments to give to the seniors.
“It showed how much we love and
care for them,” Masihuddin said. “During
these fun and enriching experiences, it
made my dedication to GlamourGals
grow even stronger.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic,
Masihuddin led her chapter and the “My
Dear Friend” campaign sending over 100
digital cards to seniors at a local nursing
home.
For Masihuddin, the meaningful scholarship
from GlamourGals will help to
alleviate some of the fi nancial stress that
comes along with being on the expensive
journey to becoming a physician,
she said. It’s a career path she was able to
confi rm her interest in due to her volunteer
work as a GlamourGal.
“Overall, being a GlamourGal means a
variety of things to me, including being
an essential part of the community, being
a kind compassionate volunteer, and
most importantly, an intergenerational
friend to countless seniors,” Masihuddin
said.
Photo courtesy of GlamourGals Foundation Inc.
BY TIMOTHY BOLGER
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Love has gone viral. Th e solitude of
stay-at-home orders combined with widespread
reports of people being more open
with their feelings amid the coronavirus
pandemic has resulted in a dating boom
in recent months.
Th at’s the word from local relationship
experts, who report a fl ood of people
seeking out signifi cant others, despite a
host of new dating rules required to maintain
social distancing to avoid the spread
of COVID-19.
“Th e whole industry in dating has
blown up,” said Maureen Tara Nelson, a
relationship coach, professional matchmaker
with more than two decades of
experience, and CEO of Melville-based
MTN Matchmaking. “People were lonely
and they are realizing now that they want
love and they need love. Especially when
they’re isolated and home alone.”
Psychotherapists have similarly reported
that patients have proven more open
in telehealth sessions during the pandemic,
and even Gov. Andrew Cuomo has
repeatedly touted the lockdown for fostering
more in-depth conversations in his
own home.
As it so happens, the governor was
recently ranked as the most desirable
bachelor in New York in MTN’s annual
survey of what women are looking for
in a man. His brother, CNN anchor Chris
Cuomo, a happily married coronavirus
survivor who had to self-quarantine,
tied at the top of the most-wanted
list.
“Women in quarantine are
setting their standards very
high, but I think under
these stressful circumstances,
women want a
strong, take-charge kind
of guy, like the governor
and someone who can live
in a basement for three
weeks and still look buff ,”
Nelson says.
While demand is increasing,
so are the rules for dating.
Nelson, who says her
matchmaking service has
resulted in more than 1,000
marriages, has been coaching
would-be couples on how to
make Zoom videoconferencing
dates romantic.
Men and women who want
to see more of each other can
later meet in person. Some
rules never changed, such as
passing the agency’s background
check, fi nancial check,
and compatibility and chemistry
tests.
But as studies have shown
that love boosts the immune system, it
seems MTN has found a cure for coronavirus.
“We were not meant to be alone,”
Nelson says. “People get sick less when
they’re in love. Children are happier when
they see their parents happy in love.”
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