26 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 21, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Molloy student earns ‘Gold Ribbon’ for cancer research fundraising
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A Queens Village student at Archbishop
Molloy High School was honored
Monday for her outstanding community
service and Gold Ribbon Project raising
more than $25,000 for pediatric cancer
research.
Cayla Kumar, 16, a junior at Archbishop
Molloy High School, located at 83-53
Manton St. in Briarwood, was presented
with an engraved bronze medallion recognized
as a selected Distinguished Finalist
for New York in the 2019 Prudential Spirit
of Community Awards on March 18.
“Th ousands of students across the
country were considered for the 2019
Spirit of Community Awards, from all of
these a very select few in each state and in
the District of Columbia have been selected
for recognition. Here in New York, I’m
delighted to report that one of our distinguished
fi nalists is Cayla Kumar,” said
Prudential Financial Advisor Kenneth
Marable.
Th e Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards program is the United States’
largest youth recognition program exclusively
on volunteer community service. It
was created in 1995 by Prudential and the
National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP) honoring middle
level and high school students for outstanding
service to others at the local, state
and national level.
Th us far, it has recognized more than
(From l. to r.) President of Archbishop Molloy High School Richard Karsten, honoree Cayla Kumar, Prudential Financial Advisor Kenneth Marable, and
Principal Darius Penikas.
125,000 young people who’ve made a difference
— and inspired countless others
to consider how they might contribute to
their communities.
Kumar’s creation of the Gold Ribbon
Project stemmed from her family members’
battle with cancer, deeply aff ecting
her, she said.
“My great grandmother passed away
and she had breast cancer and my baby
cousin was diagnosed with a brain tumor,
so having cancer aff ected me in all aspects
of my life,” said Kumar. “It was something
that I wanted to pursue and helping
with research and anything that I can
possibly do.”
In 2012, Kumar became the fi rst offi cial
youth ambassador of St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospital.
“Being able to work with children and
visit hospitals is what really inspired me
to keep going,” said Kumar, who began
volunteering at the age of 11. “I’m working
on a website and hoping with my Gold
Ribbon Project it’ll bloom and reach people
all across the nation.”
Additionally, Kumar volunteers with
other organizations such as the Susan G.
Komen Foundation, and she has also traveled
to Washington, D.C. for the CureFest
rally, where she got to speak to legislators
about increasing cancer research funding.
She is also currently Miss New York
Outstanding Teen 2018 and is looking
forward to pursuing a future career as a
pediatric oncologist.
Photo: Carlotta Mohamed/THE COURIER
“I’m humbled by all of my experiences
that I’ve received all of these awards. Th e
reason why I continue to serve is because I
want to make a diff erence in my community,
and help as many people as possible
so receiving this award today means the
world to me, especially since my school
got to be a part of it,” said Kumar.
Archbishop Molloy High School
Principal Darius Penikas, applauded
Kumar for her accomplishments.
“We’re very proud with Cayla with
everything that she’s done and her initiative
and drive and who she is as a person,”
said Penikas. “She’s a wonderful representative
of our school and she’s really a testament
to the types of students we have
here, and we couldn’t be more proud.”
Nigerian archbishop talks religious freedom in Forest Hills
BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
An archbishop from Nigeria recently
came to Forest Hills to talk about religious
freedom in the African nation.
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama was invited
by Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez to
speak to parishioners at Our Lady Queen
of Martyrs Church on March 3. Kaigama
had spoken at the United Nations on the
subject of religious freedom.
Kaigama is leader of the Diocese of
Jos and former president of the Bishop’s
Conference of Nigeria, a nation of about
190 million people, one of the most populous
in Africa. His role more of working to
bind people together and promoting what
we described as “horizontal relationship”
because responding and fi ghting in the
form of violence is retrogressive.
Christianity and Islam are the two predominant
religions in Nigeria, but in
recent years, the bishop said, the growth
of Christianity has been wiped away due
to the infl uence of other deities among
residents.
Th e main issue for Nigeria, he said, is
the challenge of uniting over 400 ethnic
nationalities brought together under
Archbishop of Jos Ignatius Kaigama (center) with Auxiliary Bishop Paul R. Sanchez and Joop Koopman, director of communication to Aid to the Church
in Need.
the umbrella of “One Nigeria” aft er the
nation gained its independence in 1960.
Hope for Nigeria, Kaigama noted, hinges
on the promotion of interfaith dialogue
to build a greater understanding among
people of diff erent faiths.
Kaigama also addressed security concerns
in Nigeria such as the infl uence of
terror groups such as Boko Haram, which
was responsible for the infamous kidnapping
of 276 girls from a secondary school
in 2014.
Photos courtesy of George Onuorah
Many believe the Nigerian government
must dedicate greater resources to fi ght
such threats while dealing with other of
her concerns such as fi ghting corruption
and creating greater employment opportunities.
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