________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD Vol. 26 No. 49
Giving out the museum passes
Belmont Park Village now open
Page 4
Page 10
NoVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 4, 2024
$1.00
Jeff Wilson/Herald
Super Seahawks! Carey defeated Mepham, 28-7, to capture the Nassau County Conference II football championship last Friday evening at Hofstra University. Story, additional photos, page 6.
Assisting the people who help us at Thanksgiving By RENEE DEloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Emilian Emeagwali, who founded the Elmont-based charity Giving Back to Community Corp., held a Thanksgiving food drive at her physical and occupational office in Valley Stream last Saturday. She distributed 100 turkeys and various canned goods to local people in need, many of whom came all the way from New York City. So much more needs to be done, Emeagwali said. Emeagwali, 59, who started the Giving Back to Community Cor p. in 2009 in Nig eria, brought it to the United States
in 2020, after she noticed a surge in food insecurity on Long Island amid the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, she said, the need has only increased. Saturday’s event was scheduled to start at noon, but a line of about 30 people had already formed by 11:45 a.m. Before the distribution began, Emeagwali knew she would run out of turkeys before the end of the sixhour event.
Fundraising challenges
The turkeys for this year’s food drive were purchased from BJ’s, with funds raised by Emeagwali’s charity and a $100
T
he more you get, the more you can give. AVERETT lEACh Volunteer donation from the store. She held a fundraising gala last month at the Golden Terrace Banquet Hall in Richmond Hill, but other than the contribution from BJ’s, she received no further financial support. Most donations were from friends and family members. Funding, she said, is the big-
gest challenge she faces, and finding a permanent space to operate is a close second. “I spend almost all my time reaching out to people, trying to see if we can get funding,” she said. “That’s what is limiting us.” Emeagwali does not get funding from local and state elected officials, although she’s
been asking for a while now. She said she has written to supermarkets like King Kullen, Stop & Shop and Key Food, as well as local politicians, but has either been rejected or received no response. On top of that, she said, not having a permanent space has been eating into the funds she Continued on page 3