54 THE QUEENS COURIER • HOLIDAY • DECEMBER 21, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
holiday
Celebrating Hanukkah in Bayside
Photos via Facebook/Chabad of Northeast Queens
Chabad of Northeast Queens lightened up a blustery winter night with its annual Hanukkah menorah lighting at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside. The celebration include music, entertainment,
latkes and remarks from local elected offi cials.
Astoria couple creates festive videos
encouraging viewers to donate to charity
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua
Astoria resident Jarrad Nunes was in a
pre-holiday funk last year when he decided
to do something spontaneous.
Grabbing his iPad and throwing wrapping
paper up on his bathroom wall,
Nunes recorded a video of himself singing
a Christmas song and implored his
followers to donate money to a charity.
He did it 11 more times leading up to
Christmas Day, uploading the videos on
Facebook.
Dubbed Th e Cheer Project, Nunes said
he wanted to do something to get himself
and his friends in the holiday spirit.
“I thought, ‘I’m just not excited about
the holidays this year,’” he said. “How can
I channel this funk into something productive?
I have a few charities I supported
consistently and it would be great to
broadcast the charities I really care about
to people I really care about.”
Nunes decided to sing Christmas songs
because they’re his “absolute favorite”
and the tunes tend to resonate with people
of all faiths. A self-proclaimed “ham,”
Nunes also wanted to fulfi ll his parents’
wishes.
“I love to sing and don’t get enough
opportunity to do it,” Nunes said. “Th e
original thought process was, ‘My parents
are always bugging me to hear me sing
and this is a great way to satisfy that and
make them happy.’”
His eff orts helped raise about $7,000 for
12 charities, and Nunes decided to do it
again with the help of his partner Andy
Genovese, a television producer. Instead
of Nunes putting up wallpaper in his
bathroom, Genovese was able to use his
producing skills to design a set complete
with a fake fi replace.
Th is time around, Nunes also enlisted
the help of his talented friends, coworkers
and family to sing songs such as “Baby,
It’s Cold Outside” and “It’s Th e Most
Wonderful Time of the Year.”
On Dec. 13, Th e Cheer Project video was
dedicated to raising money for Comfort
Cases, a charity that provides backpacks
and duff el bags fi lled with essential items
to foster kids.
Today, donations are being collected
for Th e HOPE Program, a Bronx-based
organization that helps lift people out of
poverty by providing job training and
employment in green construction and
building maintenance.
According to Genovese, the duo asked
friends and family for charity suggestions
and picked a mix of national nonprofits
like the American Cancer Society and
local organizations to support.
So far, the duo has raised $1,200 for
two charities with 10 more to go and they
have both been surprised by how generous
people have been. Nunes asked people
in the comment section to become
volunteer project angels, which means
pledging to donate to every charity.
“I was totally overwhelmed with how
many people have said, ‘I’m in it for the
long haul and going to donate every day.’”
Th e remaining charities include Team
UnLIMBited, Give Kids Th e World
Village, ProPublica, American Cancer
Society, Monkey’s House, Les Fruits de
Mer, Homes For Our Troops, End Rape
on Campus, Th e Trevor Project and
Feeding America.
Nunes and Genovese will continue Th e
Cheer Project every year, especially considering
the vast number of Christmas
songs and nonprofi t organizations in
need of donations, they said.
“I’m getting comments like, ‘My kids
love watching,’” Nunes said. “It’s not just
people who are shelling out the money to
donate. Th ey’re watching with their families
and that’s really fulfi lling.”
Photos courtesy of Andy Genovese
Astoria residents Jarrad Nunes and Andy Genovese are raising money for charities through festive
Facebook videos.