_________________ FREEPORT _________________
Infections as of Feb. 8
4,708
Infections as of Feb. 1 4,452
HERALD
Fuhgeddaboudit!
DEADLINE APPROACH
Students take on engineering task
Freeport family honors late son
Page 3
Page 19
$1.00
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION
18/21 itc FG Demi Condensed
Apply online at mptrg.com/heraldn ote or call 516.479.9171
Hablamos Español
Page xx
Maidenbaum Propert y Tax Reduction Gro up, LLC 483 Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
FEBRUARY 11 - 17, 2021
ING
1117713
CommUNItY UPDAtE
High Property Taxes?
Vol. 86 No. 7
Officials urge people to get vaccinated a webinar to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 and the vaccination rollout on Long Island. When Maria Jordan-Awalom, Dr. John Zaso, a board memof Freeport, contracted the coro- ber of the Nassau County navirus last year, she said that Department of Health, and Dr. one of her main motivations to Andrew Clair, a pharmaceutical recover was so she could protect consultant for Pfizer, urged peoher 84-year-old parents from the ple to register for the vaccine as viris. soon as they could. As soon as she Z a s o, o f E a s t was cleared and Meadow, said that h e a l t hy, Jo rd a n while vaccine supAwalom, a Freeport plies are limited, School District residents who curBoard of Education rently qualify for trustee, became a them should check public advocate to the county’s website help disseminate daily to find an open information about appointment. He the coronavirus to and Clair said that people like her par- JohN BRookS those with pre-existents, Spanish-speak- State senator ing health condiing seniors who tions — like hyperhave trouble accesstension, obesity and ing the internet, and the bulk of diabetes — should definitely get the information on the virus and vaccinated, because the Covid-19 the vaccines that can prevent it. virus can affect the entire body. “I was afraid that people like “While some who get the my parents wouldn’t be able to virus only experience light or no recover from the virus like I symptoms at all, others can expedid,” Jordan-Awalom said. “I rience very severe illnesses decided to help spread the word caused by Covid,” Clair said. and help educate others with “The virus can attack the brain, facts.” eyes, nose, heart, blood vessels, On Feb. 4, Jordan-Awalom liver, kidneys and intestines.” joined State Sen. John Brooks The doctors shared stories and a panel of health experts in Continued on page 5
By RoNNY REYES rreyes@liherald.com
W
Courtesy Tiffany Howard
ShARImA hYlAND SAID she hoped to return to a normal life with her husband, Kareem, and son, Jordan, after undergoing a successful kidney transplant on Feb. 1.
The gift of a new life
Mom gets new kidney after six-year wait By RoNNY REYES rreyes@liherald.com
When Freeporter Sharima Hyland attended St. John’s University in 2004, she got the opportunity of a lifetime when the college’s gospel choir, in which she sang, invited her on its mission trip to Africa. The trip offered Hyland an opportunity to help others, but when she returned, her health suddenly deteriorated, and about a year later, she
learned that she had lupus, a disease that occurs when the body’s own immune system attacks the tissues and organs. In Hyland’s case, the lupus targeted a kidney, and for the past six years, Hyland, 36, has needed a kidney transplant. Despite the years of hardships caused by her illness, Hyland and her family never stopped praying or lost hope, and their faith was rewarded on Feb. 1, when she underwent a successful kidney transplant at Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. “We’re very excited and happy to move on to the next chapter of our lives,” said Kareem Hyland, 35, Sharima’s husband. “We waited and prayed for this blessing,” said Tiffany Howard, her sister. “This has weighed a lot on our family.” Although they grew up in the Village of Freeport, the sisters lived outside the FreeContinued on page 17
e’re in a better position . . . but we still have a lot of work to do.