Our Bureau
New York
Rotary Club of Hicksville South (RCHS) held its 6th Annual Winter Giveaway Drive of Jackets, blankets and winter accessories last Thursday, December 10th, 2020 at the Caroline G. Atkinson School in Freeport, Long Island, NY. Of the many charitable giveaways this club does this project was done with 400 Winter Jackets, 250 blankets and 250 Sets of Hats, Gloves and Scarves given away through many NGOs, Churches, Homeless Shelters, Hempstead and Freeport Public Schools, to the families and children with dire needs in this cold winter.
The event was another successful one among many other charity events this year, under the leadership of Club President, Nilima Madan, and the Project Chairs, Quddus Mohammed and Roopam Maini, Team Members, club members and volunteers. They all spoke about various very successful giveaway charitable projects undertaken by RCHS.
Deputy Consulate General of India in NY Shatrughn Sinha, Superintendent the Freeport School District Dr Kishore Kuncham, School Principal Gisselle Campbell-Ham, Assistant Superintendent for Special Program of Hempstead School District James Clark were the dignitaries at the event and they all appreciated the need of all these donations being given away especially during these pandemic times and the dire help many families seek, in their valuable and encouraging speeches.
The representatives of the recipient organizations gave their speeches in appreciation of fulfilment of needs of desperate families. They all highly praised of RCHS’s ongoing philanthropic efforts throughout the year, and every year; specially this year during this pressing time. Freeport School District received 250 children’s very good quality Winter Jackets for all school ages, Hempstead School District got 100 such Jackets and organizations like South Asian Council of Services (SACS) were given 125 blankets and 125 sets of accessories plus 30 similar Jackets, Domestic Harmony Foundation got 50 blankets and 50 sets of accessories, besides United Methodist Church of Hempstead who received 25 blankets and 25 sets of accessories plus 10 Jackets , Asian Services at Thai Temple got 25 blankets and 25 sets of accessories plus 10 Jackets and Kingdom Family Ministry received 25 blankets and 25 sets of hats-gloves-scarves.
US Representative for New York’s 3rd district, Congressman Tom Suozzi personally could not attend the event due to his other commitments, but he sent in recognition of efforts of RCHS Citation awards to President Nilima Madan, Service Director Jasbir Singh, Project Chairs Quddus Mohammed and Roopam Maini as well as Co-Chairs Aleya Jung and Anju Sharma for their selfless service to the community.
Social distancing and all other safety measures had been followed. Due to Covid-19, limited attendance in person was allowed to be safe in current conditions. The event was broadcasted live via Zoom and Facebook.
