60 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • AUGUST 1, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Local leader starts
nonprofi t in Corona
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@qns.com
@QNS
The Foundation for Sustainable Community
Development Initiative Inc. (FSCDI), founded by Dr.
George Onuorah, held its launch ceremony in the
Elmhurst Hospital Center. Th e organization, based in
Corona, hopes to identify needy communities within
the U.S. and Africa, who are committed to developing,
participating and sustaining economic, educational and
wellness initiatives.
Onuorah, who immigrated to the United States in
1981, sees his organization as a convergence of his past
and a continuance of his passion.
“For me, my passion has always been to help my community,”
Onuorah said.
When Onuorah moved to New York in 1983, he
quickly became an active member in the Queens community.
He served on Community Board 4 in Corona,
where he became the chairperson of the Committee on
Consumer Aff airs. Onuorah also served as vice–chairperson
on the Neighborhood Advisory Board.
Growing up in Nigeria, Onuorah said he saw a need
for medical supplies and economic, educational and
health initiatives in his country. When he came to
the United States, he saw a similar need, but also the
resources to solve it.
He has brought donated educational and health items
from the U.S. to Nigeria, while also bringing Nigerian
successes back to New York.
At FSCDI’s launch on Wednesday, July 10, Onuorah
hosted a presentation by Professor John C. Aguiyi, a
researcher and director of the Africa Centre of Excellence
in Phytomedicine Research and Development at the
University of Jos in Nigeria.
Aguiyi presented on a patent he received for his locally
sourced, plant–based injectable anti–venom vaccine
that addresses a big problem in remote areas of Nigeria
– snake bites.
Onuorah and FSCDI hopes to continue to provide a
platform for those doing work that align with the organization’s
mission, like Aguiyi.
He also hopes to continue to work with Elmhurst
Hospital Center, located near his organization’s headquarters.
“We are starting to build and cement a relationship,”
Onuorah said.
Photo: Jacob Kaye/QNS
Queens Botanical Garden director celebrates 25 years
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@qns.com
@QNS
For a few weeks in 1994, Susan
Lacerte would drive home from
work, cry and ask her husband a
question.
“I’d fi rst go through the door and
I’d burst into tears and say, ‘Archie,
why did I ever say yes to this?’”
Lacerte said.
She had just taken a job as the executive
director of the failing Queens
Botanical Garden in Flushing at the
age of 38.
Twenty-fi ve years later, Lacerte,
who remains the executive director,
has transformed the Queens
Botanical Garden into one of the
borough’s top cultural landmarks.
Th e garden, which hosts about
250,000 visitors per year, has become
home to a broad range of programing
and partnerships, a leading
example in environmentally friendly
design, and a singular, focused
vision: to be the place where people,
plants and culture meet.
“To see that the work we’re doing
here, what other gardens are doing
and to see how it’s gone out into the
world – it’s just wonderful,” Lacerte
said.
Before Lacerte took the lead, there
was little in the garden to be celebrated.
No programming, dilapidated
grounds and a poor – and, in
some cases, non-existent – reputation,
made Lacerte’s early days in the
job daunting.
“It was a very challenging time,”
Lacerte said. “People didn’t want to
be on the board. Th ere had been a
lot of negative press just prior. Th e
garden looked horrible.”
Th ere wasn’t much expected of
her — or anyone — at the time, she
said. A member of the search committee
to fi ll the executive director’s
seat told Lacerte that if she failed or
decided to quit, no one would see it
as an individual failure. Th e garden
was such a mess already.
Th e garden only had one public
event a year: an Arbor Day celebration
for kids.
“Th ere were no other public
events,” Lacerte said. “And so, it was
just really pulling this place up by
the bootstraps.”
While the young director decided
to make cleaning up the garden the
fi rst step toward positive growth, she
also knew they would need to have a
public event.
It hadn’t been long since Saul
Weprin, the former speaker of the
New York State Assembly, had died
and so Lacerte decided to plan an
event to honor the late Queens leader,
centered around a tree dedication
ceremony.
Th e event was a success and a
turning point for Lacerte and the
garden.
“A lot of Council members,
Assembly members, a lot of people
came here,” Lacerte said. “I saw that
people cared. And that really helped
me understand that there’s a lot of
community involvement here and
it’ll be okay.”
As the years went on, Lacerte continued
to make the garden more and
more public. And as such, she began
to focus on what makes Queens special:
its diversity.
“We came up with this idea to
the place where people, plants and
culture meet,” Lacerte said. “And it
made sense for Queens.”
Th e Queens Botanical Garden
began projects centered around that
idea. One project focused on collecting
the 10 most important plants
from the Chinese, Hispanic and
Korean communities.
As time passed, Lacerte said, the
garden became a place built for and
informed by the community.
Nowhere was this more evident
than in the garden’s visitor and
administrative building, a project
spearheaded by Lacerte.
Th e building, with its three working
roofs, is both emblematic of the
garden’s mission and good for the
environment, of course.
Th e building, with its giant canopy
that looks like a tree itself, uses geothermal
technology, solar panels and
composting toilets.
“When I was growing up and
camping, I used to use these latrines
and things like that,” Lacerte said. “I
just said, ‘I want a composting toilet
in this building.’ So, the fi rst fully
permitted composting toilet in New
York City is right here.”
On a recent aft ernoon in July,
Lacerte took a walk through her
garden — and through her accomplishments.
Ketan Modi, a frequent patron
of the garden, was showing his son
around. Lacerte and Modi chatted
for a while.
Th e Queens Botanical Garden was
one of the fi rst places Modi visited
when he immigrated to the U.S. and
he hasn’t stopped coming by.
He visits about 30 times a year
and now hopes that his son will do
the same.
It was a particularly hot day, but
people were out and using the garden.
Some sat alone on benches,
reading or taking a breather. Two
women dressed as fairies, with wings
on their backs and glitter on their
faces, took photos of each other in
front of a patch of fl owers. Earlier
that morning, a group had come to
the park to practice tai chi.
People, plants and culture were
meeting throughout the garden, just
as Lacerte had intended.
“I took a picture a couple of weeks
ago, sent it to my kids and said,
‘My everyday existence in New York
City,’” Lacerte said, looking around.
“It’s a beautiful thing.”
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