Summer into Fall at Mercy Center |
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Although Thanksgiving is still a month away, it is never too early to express our appreciation for all that you do. As shown below, Mercy Center continues to respond to the needs of our community as we have in the past and in new ways in this ever-changing environment.
In addition to providing remote and onsite services, we also took on new services such as providing COVID testing, vaccine administration, and flu voucher distribution, as well as meals, groceries, produce and gift/debit cards, thanks to our very dedicated staff and supporters.
Mercy Center does not charge participants for any of our classes, programs or services, so we rely heavily on the generosity of those who make this work possible in a variety of ways. If you have shared our offerings with others, attended programs yourself, made a donation, provided grant funding, bought a raffle ticket, supported the golf outing, or placed a bid on our Charitybuzz auction items, I thank you on behalf of everyone who has benefited.
With gratitude,
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We offered six weeks of online ESOL (English) classes, four weeks of summer camp trips for our youth, and several NYC trips for women and families this summer.
It was just the right blend of educational and fun activities!
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Our families returned to old and new favorite sites, including Flushing Meadow. |
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ESOL classes ended with a picnic at a local park. |
The kids enjoyed trips within walking distance, such as Yankee Stadium, as well as bus trips to places like Rye Playland.
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One of our final summer activities was a flea market. Heavy rains made it our first ever indoor flea market, which ran smoothly. Families were able to pick up school supplies as well as clothing and household items. A huge thank you to our generous donors! |
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Fall Programs and Activities |
We're offering a mix of online and onsite programs this fall. Seven of our 35 English classes are onsite, with all of the adult students and teachers vaccinated. Our After School is almost entirely onsite. We also have onsite Immigrant Services appointments. Regardless of vaccination status, everyone wears a mask and uses hand sanitizer, and we do temperature checks. We also spread out as much as possible. It's wonderful to have participants in the buildings! |
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Since July 1, we have been awarded four new grants:
- A and J Serenity Fund: $40,000
- Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation: $20,000
- Frank J. Antun Foundation: $2,500
- Anonymous: $100,000
THANK YOU!!!
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Donations exceeded what we'd received at this time last year by almost $7,000. And our first-ever U.S. Open Raffle was a success! |
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We served more participants in FY2021 than ever before. Because of the online format used for classes and workshops, more people were able to participate. While there are challenges to remote activities, we used every possible means to continue to provide comprehensive, quality services. Interested in more details about who we serve and what we do? Click here!
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We distributed produce to over 500 families over the summer. When we first started doing this, we didn't realize the amount of work it involved. We've learned a lot since then, and our participants now volunteer to help. It has become a community event. We hope to provide monthly produce distributions through the rest of this year.
We're also grateful to Bank of America for providing 12,000 disposable surgical masks, almost 500 bottles of hand sanitizer, and 4,000 gloves to date. And they're sending more this month! Thank you!!!
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Our families appreciate the fresh fruits and vegetables! |
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We welcome several new staff members who have joined us over the past few of months, adding to our already strong team. From left to right, top row first:
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Fabiola Benitez, Part-time Youth Program Associate
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Lisa De Los Santos, Family Worker
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Susan Donnelly, Mercy Volunteer Corps
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Maria Hernandez, Part-time Youth Program Associate
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Mauricio Hernandez, Youth Program Associate
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Jessica Tenesaca, Family Worker
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Roberto Vazquez Perez, Development Assistant in Grants & Communications
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Thank you for helping us to continue responding with Mercy! |
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