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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
Trotting for a good cause
Collecting toys for the kids
Nassau pushes back on tax plan
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VOL. 75 NO. 48
NOVEMBER 27 - DECEMBER 3, 2025
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Local nurse carries on a turkey tradition encouraged her to pursue nursing. Service, however, was rooted For 18 years, Angelik Bell in her life well before that. Her has spent the weekend before parents, Joanna and Ricky Thanksgiving making sure Richards, founded the nonproffamilies in her community it Harvest for the World after have what they need for the hol- Bell survived a serious car accident in her early 20s. iday. “I had a fractured spine, I This year marked a milehad a lot of interstone for the nal damage, and I 47-year-old Long walked away from Island Jewish Valthat accident like ley Stream Hospital nothing ever hapnurse case managpened,” Bell said. er, who held the “My mom had said annual turkey givethat while she was away for the first praying, she said, time in her own ANGELIk BELL ‘I’ll make a promise U n i o n d a l e b a ck Nurse Case Manager, to make sure I give yard on Saturday. Long Island Jewish back and do things Though the event for other people, if has long been a tra- Valley Stream you help my daughdition for her family, hosting it herself symbol- ter to get through this.’” Following her recovery, ized her step into a role she had watched her mother lead from Bell’s mother honored that her own home for the past 17 promise by launching the nonprofit focused on feeding and years. Bell has worked at LIJ Valley supporting those in need. What Stream for almost 10 years. began as a food pantry operatGrowing up in Uniondale, she ing out of a local church evenwas inspired to become a nurse tually grew into a larger orgain her teens after helping care n i z a t i o n a s t h e d e m a n d for her aunt, who had systemic increased. Bell also recalled lupus and needed ventilator how her mother’s generosity support at home. Nurses taught extended beyond food assisher basic skills like suctioning Continued on page 7 and ventilator care, which
By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO
azingariello@liherald.com
T
his is what makes up a community
Rei Wolfsohn/Herald photos
Kellenberg Memorial High School Religion teacher Bryan Finn with students Peyton Eckman, Ali Lattanzio and Olivia Edwards at the food drive.
Kellenberg students collect over 77,000 pounds of food donations By Rei Wolfsohn Correspondent
Kellenberg Memorial High School students were a little shy of last year’s 82,000 pounds of collected food donations, but nonetheless gathered over 77,000 — 38.3 pounds per student — as well as 27 turkeys in this year’s collection, part of the school’s Great Ignatian Challenge. The challenge — an annual food drive competition — was created by Jim Rowen, a 1982 graduate of Fordham Prep, a Jesuit high school in the Bronx. It was inspired by the Jesuit mission of being “women and men for others,” and intended to underscore the collective service and generosity among participating Jesuit high schools. Twenty-four schools across the country
compete in the challenge, and the food they collect goes to a variety of charities. Kellenberg, in Uniondale, is the only Marianist school to take part, a Catholic educational institution under the auspices of the Society of Mary religious order. The school has been a part of the challenge for four years. Students were initially encouraged to collect 15 pounds of non-perishable items each for the drive, to provide food for those in need on Thanksgiving. “We’re taught here to give to people and do good to our neighbors,” Kellenberg freshman Peyton Eckman said. “So this shows that even though we don’t know them, we still know that they’re in need, so we provide for them.” “We are helping Island Harvest out,” Continued on page 6 Continued on page 6