42 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • APRIL 12, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens business
Queens-based organization honored for its work in the city and overseas
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Queens-based organization is making
a diff erence not just in the city, but
also abroad.
Th e Subraj Foundation was started by
the late George Subraj, who founded Zara
Realty in 1982. Headed by George and his
business partners, Jay Sobhraj and Ken
Subraj, the organization sought to provide
medical and educational services
locally and overseas.
Anthony Subraj, George’s son, took
over the Subraj Foundation aft er his
father passed away.
“My father started the foundation many
years ago because a strong will to give
back the community that he does business
in and in Guyana,” Anthony Subraj
said. “I joined aft er my father passed to
help the dream live on.”
Since 1992, the Subraj Foundation has
brought pioneering doctors and technology
from leading American hospitals to
conduct corneal transplants for impoverished
people in Guyana who have little
or no access to this type of medical care.
Th e Subraj Foundation was recently
honored for decades worth of charitable
work by the Indian Diaspora Council
International, which recognized the medical
missions it has sponsored in Guyana,
including the country’s fi rst-ever kidney
transplant.
“We send trained doctors and
surgeons to do kidney and corneal
transplant surgeries, and then
provide training to local doctors in
Guyana so they can do it on their
own,” Anthony Subraj said. “We
have a mission coming on the fi rst
week of May where we’re going to
provide kidney and cornea transplants.
We’re also sending down
700 pairs of eyeglasses and performing
eye screenings to diagnose
problems with the local residents.”
While George Subraj pioneered
the medical outreach, Jay Sobhraj
took on the educational outreach.
With Jay Sobhraj’s support, the
Subraj Foundation is able to provide
computer labs, education
centers and scholarships to local
schools.
Recently, the Subraj Foundation
gave a $5,000 grant to the
Champalakshmi Narottamdas
Lakhani School in India, which is
named for Vibha Subraj’s grandmother.
Th e school, which opened
Anthony Subraj is honored at the Indian Diaspora Council
International celebration of the end of the Indian indenture
system. Left to right: Counsel General of Guyana Barbara
Atherly, Anthony Subraj, Vrinda S. Jagan and Gloria Subraj
in February 2018, is housed in a
brand-new, three-story building
that serves grades 1 through 8.
With the grant, the school was able to
purchase the latest technologies for the
students.
Th e Subraj Foundation has also built
12 educational centers in Guyana and
Photo courtesy of Zara Realty
equipped New York schools, including
Queens’ own Richmond Hill High
School, with state-of-the-art computer
labs.
“Whether it is building schools, so
tomorrow’s future leaders can be
educated for the world they will
inherit or bringing vital medical
treatment to parts of the world
where people can’t aff ord life-saving
care, it is so important for those
blessed with good fortune to give
back,” Anthony Subraj said. “Th at
is what my father taught me and
what Vibha learned from generations
of her own family.”
On March 18, the Indian
Diaspora Council International
honored the late George Subraj
and his family at a ceremony in at
Martin Van Buren High School in
Queens Village. Th e event marked
the 100th anniversary of end of
the Indian indenture system, in
which people from India were
sent to various locations throughout
the British Empire, including
Guyana, as debt-bonded servants.
Th ey were honored near luminaries
such as the late Cheddi B. Jagan,
a leading fi gure in Guyana’s independence
from Great Britain and
that country’s president from 1992
to 1997.
“My father had a motto, which
was to do good and be good,” Subraj
said. “We try to continue with that same
motto as we move forward.”
For more information about the Subraj
Foundation, call 718-291-3331.
Hardware shop in Howard Beach honored for service
Cross Bay Hardware in Howard Beach
was recognized as “Small Business of
the Month” by Assemblywoman Stacey
Pheffer Amato on April 5. She presented
an Assembly citation to co-owners
Michael Pecoraro and Bobby Pace,
who operate the shop located at 162-54
Cross Bay Blvd.
“Small businesses are the backbone
of neighborhoods across our city; here
in Queens, they are a part of our communities’
fabric,” Pheffer Amato said.
“A small amount of recognition for
over 50 years of quality service to our
community is the least we can do.”
Cross Bay Hardware opened in the
1950s and has been active in the community
ever since, supporting numerous
schools and organizations including
St. Helen’s and Our Lady of Grace
Parishes, P.S. 207 and P.S. 146, New
York Families with Autistic Children,
Howard Beach Kiwanis Club and the
Broad Channel and Hamilton Beach
Volunteer Fire Departments. The shop
currently employs six people.
“It was an honor to be selected as the
first Small Business of the Month” by
Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato, Pace
said. “It means a lot to us and our staff,
and is a tribute to this community for
supporting our stores all these years.”
Joining Pheffer Amato and Pace
at the award presentation were
Community Board 10 Chairperson
Betty Braton and JoAnn Ariola, president
of the Howard Beach Lindenwood
Civic Association.
Pheffer Amato organized the “Small
Business of the Month” program to
recognize those small businesses in her
Photo courtesy of Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er Amato
district for their dedication and service
to the communities in which they
serve.
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