Sunday, November 11 was a blisteringly cold day in the ocean-side town of Far Rockaway, Queens but this didn’t stop members of the Guyana Diplomat Corps from joining religious and cultural organizations to bring hot meals, warm blankets and cleaning supplies to hurricane victims in one of the hardest hit areas in the New York area.
Guyana’s Ambassador to Washington, Bayney Karran, and New York Consul General, Brentnold Evans, came together with Councilman of the 31st Council District of Far Rockaway, James Saunders, Jr. and the Shri Trimurti Bhavan to bring much needed relief to those citizens who have been without electricity for over two weeks in the aftermath of the monster surge, Sandy.
The Shri Trimurti Bhavan donated 50 bags of clothes and trays of food, while Pandit Suresh Surgrim, President of the New Jersey Arya Samaj Mandir drove all the way from his Jersey City humanitarian mission with 1000 meals. He said it was a joy to share in the warmth of giving to the community that has lost so much.
Pamela Ross, Shanta Fields and Allison Ross packed their minivan with cases of water and warm meals to travel from Ozone Park, Queens to bring a smile to the faces of kids who joined the line with their parents to be served.
**Ambassador Karran “rolled up his sleeves” and climbed high on top of a truck loaded with clothes and canned goods and handed out bags upon bags of the items to the victims.
Charitable givers, Igbal Sherif of the World Islamic Center, Herman Singh, of the Federation of Hindu Mandirs, Dhanpaul Narine, Roshan Ali Ahmad, Mendra Singh, Ravi Bisoon, and sisters, Yasmen and Naimoon all showed their support with goods that
will certainly go a long way towards aiding the hurricane victims.
President of the Guyana Tri-State Alliance Patricia Jordon Langford, and members Yvonne Marcus and Yvonne Shaliha were on hand to share in the goodwill.
Ambassador Karran praised his fellow citizens, of whom he said he was proud, and thanked the expats from what he called his multi-religious, multi-cultural country, that came together in unity to help the hurricane ravished community.
“I am happy to be here to support the community and to thank the citizens of Guyana who donated hot meals and volunteered their time to help others.”
Councilman James Jr. Saunders in turn, expressed the same pride he said Karran felt towards the charitable Guyanese because of the heartfelt support they had shown to his constituency.
“If this is an example of what Guyana is like then its future is assured, thanks to gentlemen like yourself, Saunders said to the diplomats and leaders of the various organizations.
Councilman James said, of the 105,000 residents that live in the Far Rockaway area, it is estimated that 70,000 were hurt and at least 30,000 were seriously impacted. Many of these victims are Guyanese.
