FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 15, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Volunteer-led Queens COVID Remembrance Day scheduled for May
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A day to honor and remember
the lives lost to COVID-
19 in Queens, organized by
the volunteer-led organization
Queens COVID Remembrance
Day (QCRD), will be held on
Saturday, May 1.
Th e vigil will take place
at Forest Park’s Bandshell in
Woodhaven from 1 to 8 p.m.
Th e day will feature several
tributes for the more than 9,300
Queens residents who have died
due to COVID-19, including a
Queens Residents Memorial.
Th e memorial will showcase 400
empty benches — each bearing
the name and image of a community
member lost to the virus
— that are custom made by a
16-year-old artist, Hannah, who
is based in New Jersey.
Th e memorial ceremony will
begin with an interfaith prayer
and words of remembrance from
Queens residents who lost loved
ones to COVID-19 at 1 p.m. Th is
hourlong segment will be limited
to 200 people in accordance
with state and city guidelines,
with free tickets available beginning
on April 14 to encourage
safety measures. It will also be
livestreamed on QCDR’s social
media platforms.
Th e event will then open to
the public from 2 to 8 p.m., with
no tickets required. Th e space
will be surrounded with yellow
hearts, supplied by Th e Yellow
Heart Memorial, bearing the
names of those lost to COVID-
19 from around the world.
Th e day will also feature an
original fl oral art piece made
by Floral Heart Project artist
Kristina Libby, as well as an
essential worker tribute.
Th e QCDR was conceived by
a committee of about 15 Queens
community members, all of whom
lost family members and friends
to the virus in the past year.
Brian Walter, a resident of
Middle Village, is one of the
organizers of the event. He lost
his 80-year-old father to COVID
in May 2020, but wasn’t able
to properly mourn him with a
wake or funeral due to stringent
guidelines at the time.
Walter said his father, John,
was a lifelong resident of Middle
Village and even received a proclamation
from state Senator
Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. two years
ago for living in the same ZIP
code his whole life.
“My father’s big adventure
was moving from one side of
Metropolitan Avenue to the
other,” Walter recalled.
Walter said that aft er speaking
at the National COVID
Remembrance Day in October
that was held in Washington,
D.C., friends he’d made through
the COVID loss community
online said they needed to bring
it to Queens — which became
the “epicenter of the epicenter” at
the height of the pandemic.
Walter said they have since
received an outpouring of support
from non-COVID groups and
elected offi cials, particularly from
Addabbo and Assemblywoman
Jenifer Rajkumar.
“It’s taken us to places we never
imagined,” he said. “Finally,
our loved ones, who have been
minimized to just a statistical
number, are getting what they
deserve.”
Addabbo and Rajkumar,
whose respective districts represent
parts of central Queens, will
be presenting the group with a
resolution from New York state
to honor QCDR’s selfl ess work
and dedication.
“Th e work that the Queens
COVID Remembrance Day
group put into this event is
extraordinary and heartfelt,”
Addabbo said. “I am proud to be
able to work with this amazing
group to try and help bring some
closure and peace to the loved
ones of victims of the COVID-19
virus, while honoring the memories
of those that we lost right
here in our borough of Queens.”
Rajkumar said it’s her privilege
to work with QCDR, who exemplify
“resilience, strength and
hope in the face of tragic loss.”
“On this day, I have asked the
legislative body of New York state
to pause in its deliberations to
remember all those we lost to
COVID-19 in Queens and around
the world,” Rajkumar said.
So far, QCDR has received
about 206 submissions from
Queens residents to be included
on the empty benches and about
500 for the yellow hearts that will
surround the Bandshell.
Walter and the lawmakers
encourage anyone who has
lost a loved one to COVID, in
Queens or around the world,
and would like to be included
in the memorial ceremony to
visit their website at queenscovidremembranceday.
com/submita
loved-one. Th ey also encourage
submissions for the essential
workers tribute, at queenscovidremembranceday.
com/essential
workers-tribute.
For more information, visit
QCDR’s website at www.queenscovidremembranceday.
com.
Photo courtesy of QCRD
A volunteer writes the names of people lost to COVID-19 in yellow hearts for the Queens COVID Remembrance Day.
Photo courtesy of QCRD
Forest Park’s Bandshell in Woodhaven, where Queens COVID Remembrance Day
will take place on May 1.
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