FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JUly 16, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 3 QUEENS VILLAGE WOMAN RECEIVES DREAM WEDDING WITH HELP FROM COMMUNITY BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua Minerva Santivanez met her fiance Edward Horan seven years ago and knew that day that the couple would be together a long time. Her intuition was right, and on Sunday, August 2, the couple will get married at Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach with a little help from the community. Though they were only engaged on May 23, Santivanez and Horan want to tie the knot before Santivanez starts chemotherapy treatment to fight her stage 4 cancer. In November 2014, Santivanez, a Queens Village resident, saw bulges in her abdomen and went to Queens Hospital to have them examined. Doctors told her that they were tumors and that she would need surgery to have them removed. During her recovery in the hospital, Santivanez experienced chest pain and difficulty breathing. Soon after, she became unresponsive and the staff went against hospital policy to give her a double blood transfusion that saved her life. Though it has been a difficult journey, Santivanez said her fiance and family have been a great support system for her. “I’m grateful that my fiance has been there the whole way through,” Santivanez said. “I told him, I don’t know how he deals with things, how he’s been so strong. My cousin Mary has been helping me out nonstop, her family as well.” Once Santivanez and Horan got engaged, her cousin Mary Legaspi began using social media to raise funds for the wedding and hospital bills. Frank Russo, who owns Russo’s on the Bay, heard about the story through his son Frank Russo III and offered to provide Russo’s on the Bay for the service and reception. “I’m trying not to cry right now because its been overwhelming,” Santivanez said. “Who does that nowadays? In this day and age nobody does anything unless you’re going to do something in return. They don’t know me like that and they just offered it.” Once other people heard her story, the offers started pouring in. Thomas Knoell Designs donated wedding jewelry, Clay Bouquet Shop offered to donate a bouquet, Nidji Photography, Alice Escobar, Nick Kanellopoulos and his wife will be donating their photography services and DJ entertainment and several other organizations and people have offered to provide wedding services for free. “Just listening to her story, sometimes you get caught up but every time you hear a story, if it can help … it’s a situation that we could participate in and that’s pure and that’s the most important piece, then I don’t mind helping,” Russo Sr. said. Santivanez said she cannot wait to meet these people so she can hug and thank them in person. She’s also excited to participate in a longstanding wedding tradition — the first dance. “I’m excited for everything,” Santivanez said. “I’m hoping to beat chemo in the end and have it all be a bad memory. But the fact that everybody has been there for me, I want to be able to thank everybody. I just want to be able to hug them and thank them in person.” Anyone who would like to donate to help Santivanez and her family cover medical expenses can visit her GoFundMe page. Photo courtesy of Minerva Santivanez Minerva Santinevez and Edward Horan will tie the knot in August, before Santinevez undergoes chemotherapy to treat her stage 4 sarcoma. Students enhance community room at Laurelton library BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua A fresh coat of yellow paint transformed the Laurelton library‘s community room, which was unveiled on July 10. The project was completed by students enrolled in Publicolor, a nonprofit organization that uses design-based programs to help at-risk students prepare for college and careers. Councilman Donovan Richards allocated $5,000 in his budget for the program, which couples college and career prep with community service. Students receive stipends for volunteering their time to paint community spaces like schools and libraries. “Publicolor helps to lift up our youth in the city and allows them to learn new skills and find potential career paths they may have never been aware of, which is why I funded their organization again in this year’s budget,” Richards said. “Their contribution to the Laurelton library, which is one of the most frequently used libraries in Queens, has made the teen space a more welcoming and uplifting environment for our residents who take advantage of the great programs Queens Library has to offer.” The community room at Laurelton library hosts different programs including Summer Meals, where children are provided with free lunches; English Literature at Laurelton for third- through eighth-graders; quilting and math clubs; and the Laurelton Homeowners Club, where homeowners gather to share ideas how to make Laurelton a better community. David Wang, the manager of Laurelton library, said the community room is essential to library Students enrolled in Publicolor gave the community room at Laurelton library a fresh coat of yellow paint. patrons and after several Saturdays of work, people were happy to see it completed. “Our program room is used for all kinds of programs: cultural, educational and recreational ones,” Wang said. “Participants of programs were thrilled seeing the new face of the newly painted multipurpose room. You can tell that the multipurpose room is very important for Laurelton library and the community it serves. It greatly enhanced the outlook of the library.” Students enrolled in Publicolor are usually at risk of dropping out but 100 percent of the participants Photo courtesy of Donovan Richards stay in school with 97 percent graduating on time and 94 percent going to college, according to Ruth Lande Shuman, president and founder of the organization. “We were delighted to transform the community room at the Laurelton library and look forward to continuing our partnership with Councilman Richards to transform more spaces in the 31st district,” Lande Shuman said. “Through our long-term commitment and our continuum of programs, our students are realizing their potential, which is abundant.”
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