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Friday, December 11, 2020
Vol. 80, No. 50
SERVING PLAINVIEW, HICKSVILLE, AND LEVITTOWN
MASTER GARDENERS
Teens organize food drive for needy families BY GARY SIMEONE
Hicksville Public Schools students participated in a summer enrichment program "Grow wth Us." Stepping outside for a photo were Woodland Grow with Us gardeners. The students are pictured here with (back row, left to right) Superintendent of Schools Marianne Litzman, Woodland Principal Beth Swanson, and (far right) teacher Wendy Cataldo and school social worker Sue Simon.
Caretaker arrested after tot injured
Natalie Rose
A Bethpage woman was arrested on December 5 for allegedly endangering the welfare of a child in her care. According to Nassau County Police detectives, a 10-monthold male sustained a serious injury while under the care of the Kiddie Academy in Bethpage and did not receive proper medical treatment, which prompted an investigation by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.
Police say the investigation eventually revealed that the owner, Natalie Rose, 34, purposely falsified the New York State incident report that was filed in regards to the child’s injury. She was charged with Falsifying Business Records 1st Degree, Offering a False Instrument for Filing 1st Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
The Mid-Island Times & Levittown Times is Published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801 Tel 931-0012. USPS 3467-68 Postmaster: Send Address Changes to: The Mid Island & Levittown Times 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208, Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Meg Norris Publisher
In what was another feel-good Thanksgiving Day story, a group of local teenagers helped to organize a massive food drive at Hicksville High School. Teens from the Children’s Hope India organization (CHI) Chapter 3 helped to box and distribute non-perishable food items to 80 impoverished families on Long Island. “They did some amazing work getting themselves involved in the community and giving back to people who are less fortunate than they are,” said Sunita Manjrekar, mother of one of the team leaders. “These kids have arduous class schedules, but took the time out of their day to help assemble 200 boxes of Thanksgiving staples, which included boxes of stuffing, cranberries, and other canned food.” Ten teenagers from Hicksville Levittown, Jericho, Syosset and Herricks spent the Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving separating and bagging the items at Manjrekar’s home in Hicksville. The Hicksville PTA was instrumental in delivering the boxes to her house after the items were donated to schools in the area during the month of November. Rohan Manjrekar, a junior at Hicksville and a team leader at CHI, said seeing the looks on the families faces after they received their donation made the whole effort worthwhile. “Just to see all the smiles and the gratitude when they received their donations was the best part of it for me and made the whole effort worthwhile,” said Manjrekar. The food drive took place in front of the high school on November 23 in shifts, so groups of families who were on the list could receive their items in an organized fashion. “We had bags of food containing Thanksgiving food items and bags containing regular items like chips, mac & cheese and things of that nature. There were also $50 gift cards included as well,” said Manjrekar. “Because of the pandemic, people drove up in their cars and we handed them the bags through the window.” He added that families or individuals who were not on the See page 15
Rob's Run a spectacular success PAGE 4 Spirit of Giving is alive and well PAGE 12