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Vol. 87 No. 2
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Child care centers fight for support said Janna Rodriguez, 32, owner of the Innovative Daycare Corp., a home-based child-care firm in When the coronavirus pan- Freeport. “This is a real crisis. demic shut down businesses and . . . These are actual living, hapschools in March 2020, a new pening issues that families are phrase passed into common use: dealing with. And the issues essential worker. The ter m aren’t just affecting families; referred particularly they’re affecting the to employees whose providers that are jobs were essential providing the serto societal function vice.” and could not be T he pandemic accomplished showed how hard it remotely, like those could be to accomin health care, food plish the work that production and saniessential workers do tation. But when if they have young employees in these children. s e c t o r s we n t t o “During the first work, what hap- u.s. DeparTmeNT part of the pandempened to their young said Clariona oF The Treasury ic,” children? Griffith, who owns The Herald interSafe Child Early viewed three child-care provid- Learning Center in Hempstead, ers, two of whom have their “the essential worker parents businesses in Freeport and one didn’t have to pay for child care. of whom sits on the board of the It was free because the governChild Care Council of Nassau ment provided waivers. But the Inc. Their words showed why waivers expired, so everybody’s they thought the argument for back to paying for child care.” government funding of early Griffith, who is a Hempstead child care is compelling. Village trustee and sits on the “I feel like the reason child board of the Child Care Council care became a topic of conversa- of Nassau, said child care avertion was because the pandemic ages $310 to $360 per week, per proved that — where are all child. High-earning parents can these children going to go now?” Continued on page 12
By reiNe BeThaNy rbethany@liherald.com
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Courtesy John Nuzzi Sr.
a youNGsTer puT one up during the 2019 Elks Hoop Shoot National Finals. The national contest was canceled in 2021 because of Covid-19 shutdowns.
Elks Hoop Shoot returns
Makes a comeback after 2021 cancellation By reiNe BeThaNy rbethany@liherald.com
Children who remember the excitement of the Elks National Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest should waste no time getting to the Freeport Recreation Center on Saturday to participate once again. The event, for 8- to 13-yearolds, has the potential to take winning free-throw shooters as far as Chicago for the national competition in April.
The exhilaration of the contest is intensified not only because this is its 50th anniversary year, but also because it last happened two years ago. “We’re calling it ‘Bouncing Back’ 2021-2022,” said John Nuzzi Sr., “because we didn’t have it last year.” The 20202021 Hoop Shoot was canceled by Covid-19. Nuzzi is the Elks Lodge No. 1 Hoop Shoot director. Elks Lodge No. 1 serves the South Shore district of Long Island,
so children of eligible age from Valley Stream to the western edge of Merrick can sign up. They don’t have to worry about being chosen for a team, because they compete as individuals representing Lodge No. 1. Every child in each of the three age categories can throw a total of 25 free shots. The winning girl and boy from each age category will go on to the district level on Continued on page 9
ur existing system leads to chronic underinvestment in our children.