Youth Impact Award Winner: Afnan Faiza
Afnan started volunteering at Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) Older Adult Center (the Center) in August 2022, focusing on intergenerational programming. Afnan immediately began to enhance the program. She not only paid special attention to engaging the older adults at the Center but also engaged youth in her high school and other high schools in the community, bringing these groups together at the Center.
Afnan was attentive to and improved the co-educational model that exists at the Center's intergenerational programming. Afnan focuses on developing opportunities that provide learning experiences for young people and older adults alike, exchanging ideas where both groups gain value and insight.
Afnan developed the concept for a new project within the intergenerational model: the Pen Pals program. This program allows students and older adults to exchange letters over the course of weeks, culminating in a get-together for all of those involved. This model allows more young people whose schedules do not allow direct participation at the Center during the day to engage with older adults in meaningful ways.
Afnan has been a fundamental leader in gathering groups of youth volunteers to engage in service at the Center.
Afnan has gained significant joy in making new connections with others, building relationships, and connecting with the community. Afnan sees her contribution to the community as a contribution to herself. Afnan has gained significant leadership skills and small-group organization skills. She has developed projects and led groups of three to five high school students in helping with special events. She has gained exposure to a wide variety of age groups and cultures in our Center.
Afnan was named NYer of the Week on Spectrum News NY1. Watch the feature here: Afnan Faiza: Using an old-school technique to connect generations.
AmeriCorps Alumn Impact Award Winner: Katharine Reed
Katharine Reed joined the Sanitation Foundation in the fall of 2021 as a City Service Corps member and has been committed to creating impactful, scalable, and rewarding volunteer experiences for New Yorkers citywide, inviting them to join NYC Sanitation in creating a cleaner NYC.
During her service year, Katharine helped significantly grow the corporate and community volunteer events program and oversaw a needs assessment focused on expanding support for community-led cleaning initiatives. This past fall, taking the experiences gained during her service year, Katharine helped launch the Foundation's newest and most impactful program, Community-led Cleanup Resources which includes a webinar training series; resource guide materials to plan, promote, and measure the impact of community-led cleanups; and grant opportunities to secure tools and supplies to host events.
In addition to overseeing this new program, Katharine continues to lead the Foundation's volunteer events program, coordinating litter cleanups, street tree care events, and compost bagging activities in communities across the city, all year round. These events, which accommodate groups of five to 125, are designed to be safe, fun, efficient, and accessible.
The goal is to engage everyday New Yorkers to become stewards of their neighborhoods and contribute to keeping NYC clean, healthy, and safe. Working with communities across the city, she recognizes the power of public engagement and community involvement in order to achieve NYC's zero-waste goals.
About Katharine
Katharine is a full-time graduate student pursuing her master's at NYU’s Food Studies program in food policy. Katharine is passionate about food waste prevention as well as creating a more sustainable and equitable food system. Before joining the Sanitation Foundation team, Katharine worked in food banking and with several waste reduction initiatives. Throughout her service year and her transition into her current full-time role as Programs Manager, Katharine has deftly managed her academic and professional careers, often using insights from one to inform the other.
Community Impact Award Winner: Children of Promise, NYC
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Children of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) is a community-based organization that supports and advocates for children of incarcerated parents through trauma-informed programming and empowering them to speak out against root causes that affect their community including systemic racism, poverty, and bias in the nation’s criminal justice system.
CPNYC after-school program (open five days a week) provides structured youth development programming, including fun and engaging activities that allow participants to learn, play, create, and develop leadership tools.
Saturday Resource Center in Brooklyn was launched to contribute to the growth and development of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. The center provides tutoring to students in need of support (especially after COVID-19 related learning loss) while also engaging community members as academic support volunteers and helping to support CPNYC’s greater goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration.
In 2022, CPNYC recruited 176 volunteers from the Brooklyn community and enrolled 180 students.
About Children of Promise, NYC
Children of Promise, NYC reimagines a just society that values the purpose of every child impacted by mass incarceration and removes barriers to create opportunities for children to thrive and achieve their human potential. CPNYC is the first and only after-school program and summer day camp in NYC specifically designed to meet the needs, interests, and concerns of children left behind by a parent serving time in prison.
Partnership Impact Award Winners: Food Bank For New York City and New York Yankees
The Yankees and Food Bank For New York City turns food distribution into community events where community members connect to one another and gain access to additional services offered by Food Bank For New York City, such as income tax preparation, referrals to other food banks to pantries, and support with accessing SNAP and other benefits.
Food distribution is hosted at Yankee Stadium (Gate 8) which is open to all residents in the Bronx, no ID, documentation, or other proof of need is required, reducing shame and lowering barriers for Bronx residents to get the resources they need.
In 2022, 75 volunteers from Yankees staff, including Manager Aaron Boone, distributed over 150,000 meals to more than 21,338 New Yorkers in the Bronx. Together, they responded to the Bronx community’s needs by expanding access to high-quality, nutrient-dense foods through end-of-month food distributions, a time of the month especially challenging for families when federal food benefits typically run out.
Families receive 30 pounds of fresh food at each distribution event, which includes fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as culturally celebratory foods and shelf-stable staples.
About Food Bank For New York City
Food Bank For New York City has been working to end food poverty in our five boroughs since 1983. As the city’s largest hunger-relief organization, they employ a multifaceted approach centered on helping low-income New Yorkers overcome their circumstances and achieve greater independence. Their mission is to end hunger by organizing food, information, and support for community survival and dignity.
About New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are committed to promoting and sustaining cordial and cooperative relationships with their neighbors and community partners; working in conjunction with them to enhance the quality of life throughout the surrounding communities. On a consistent basis, the Yankees partner with community-based organizations to host events at Yankee Stadium and dedicate resources to support various outreach efforts that focus on providing positive educational, recreational, and social outlets for New York City residents.
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