NY1’s latest New Yorker of the Week is teaching the youth in his community the importance of lending a helping hand. Sandra Endo filed this report.
These young people are filling bags with food to be distributed to homebound elderly, to the homeless, and to anyone in need of food. They're volunteers at the Helping Hands Food Bank, run out of the basement of a church in Inwood by a community service program called Fresh Youth Initiatives.
The food bank would not be here today if it weren't for the leadership of 27-year-old Steve Ramos.
“The food pantry was in a little bit of disarray. We had a staff member who had started up the Helping Hands Community Center [who] had just left, and Steve sort of had to come into almost a blank kind of situation, and with the guidance of one other particular staff member was able to sort of make something out of nothing,” says Andrew Rubinson, the Executive Director of Fresh Youth Initiatives.
Steve certainly made "something" when he saved the pantry in 2000. At that time, he was working with Fresh Youth Initiatives through an apprenticeship with a non-profit group.
“During my tenure year at Fresh Youth Initiatives, when I first started, I actually was responsible for saving the life of the Helping Hands Food Bank,” he says. “I feel that it's a gem in the community. It not only provides meaningful service for the young people, but it also provides a service, an emergency food relief for the senior citizens and working poor people of the Inwood community.”
And as he worked his way up to become Associate Executive Director, he became a leader to the children and young adults in his community.
“I think this program is important for people my age, kids my age, because it takes them out of the streets, out of violence, and all that stuff,” says Carlos Penzo of Fresh Youth Initiatives. “It's a better opportunity to be a better person, help out your community and just grow as a better person.”
“We believe in using community service as a vehicle to teach our young people leadership,” Steve says. “So they do things like make sleeping bags from scratch and give them out to the homeless, they make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they paint murals, they clean up parks, they paint mailboxes - basically every and any kind of community service activity that you can think about to help the community, we're involved with.”
Teenagers like Amy Figueroa are given the opportunity to be community leaders.
“He's putting kids in a position where they can be who that want to be in a positive way, and show off this image to the community that kids around my age aren't doing bad things and they're doing good and they want to progress in life and they want to do something positive for the future,” she says.
So, for guiding these young people on a positive path and continuing to make changes to improve his community, Steve Ramos is our New Yorker of the Week.
If you would like more information on Fresh Youth Initiatives, you can call (212) 781-1113 or visit www.freshyouth.org.
If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:
New York 1 News
New Yorker of the Week
75 Ninth Avenue, 6th Floor
These young people are filling bags with food to be distributed to homebound elderly, to the homeless, and to anyone in need of food. They're volunteers at the Helping Hands Food Bank, run out of the basement of a church in Inwood by a community service program called Fresh Youth Initiatives.
The food bank would not be here today if it weren't for the leadership of 27-year-old Steve Ramos.
“The food pantry was in a little bit of disarray. We had a staff member who had started up the Helping Hands Community Center [who] had just left, and Steve sort of had to come into almost a blank kind of situation, and with the guidance of one other particular staff member was able to sort of make something out of nothing,” says Andrew Rubinson, the Executive Director of Fresh Youth Initiatives.
Steve certainly made "something" when he saved the pantry in 2000. At that time, he was working with Fresh Youth Initiatives through an apprenticeship with a non-profit group.
“During my tenure year at Fresh Youth Initiatives, when I first started, I actually was responsible for saving the life of the Helping Hands Food Bank,” he says. “I feel that it's a gem in the community. It not only provides meaningful service for the young people, but it also provides a service, an emergency food relief for the senior citizens and working poor people of the Inwood community.”
And as he worked his way up to become Associate Executive Director, he became a leader to the children and young adults in his community.
“I think this program is important for people my age, kids my age, because it takes them out of the streets, out of violence, and all that stuff,” says Carlos Penzo of Fresh Youth Initiatives. “It's a better opportunity to be a better person, help out your community and just grow as a better person.”
“We believe in using community service as a vehicle to teach our young people leadership,” Steve says. “So they do things like make sleeping bags from scratch and give them out to the homeless, they make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they paint murals, they clean up parks, they paint mailboxes - basically every and any kind of community service activity that you can think about to help the community, we're involved with.”
Teenagers like Amy Figueroa are given the opportunity to be community leaders.
“He's putting kids in a position where they can be who that want to be in a positive way, and show off this image to the community that kids around my age aren't doing bad things and they're doing good and they want to progress in life and they want to do something positive for the future,” she says.
So, for guiding these young people on a positive path and continuing to make changes to improve his community, Steve Ramos is our New Yorker of the Week.
If you would like more information on Fresh Youth Initiatives, you can call (212) 781-1113 or visit www.freshyouth.org.
If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:
New York 1 News
New Yorker of the Week
75 Ninth Avenue, 6th Floor