_________________ FREEPORT _________________
CoMMUNitY UPdAtE infections as of Feb. 21
4,959
infections as of Feb. 15 4,830
HERALD
Students thank police officers
Reading thrives in Freeport
Village officer enjoys retirement
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FEBRUARY 25 - MARCH 3, 2021
Vol. 86 No. 9
Freeport millennials talk diversity tive, your energy, your fresh takes on things so we can make good decisions.” Nassau County Legislator Mulé’s chief of staff, JonaDebra Mulé hosted a conversa- than Prevost, of Baldwin, led tion with millennial constitu- the discussion. Baldwinite ents last week as part of a vir- Bianca Boursiquot, owner of tual panel called Sweets by B, a “Redesigning the Baldwin-based District: A Converbaked goods busisation with Millenn e s s, j o i n e d t h e nials.” discussion, along During the Feb. with Freeport na18 webinar, broadtives Kyra Lewis, cast via Facebook Jose Villatoro and Live, Baldwin and Kiana Abbady. Freeport residents The panelists discussed key recalled fond childissues facing milhood memories lennials, as well as and touted Baldopportunities for w i n ’s a n d F r e e local civic involvepor t’s sense of ment and changes community and t h e y h ave w i t diversity, but also n e s s e d — a n d KiANA ABBAdY shared the changes would like to make Resident t h e y h ave w i t — in their communessed while grownities. i n g u p, a n d d i s “My children are millenni- cussed those they would like als who grew up in the 5th to see. Le gislative District, and I “The most change I’ve seen know that the issues of mil- in Baldwin has to deal with lennials are different from the businesses,” Boursiquot said. issues of my generation,” said “And I’m proud of how many Mulé, a Democrat from Free- businesses that opened in port. “And it’s very important Baldwin — I appreciate that that we hear what they are. We need to get your perspecContinued on page 16
By BRidgEt dowNES bdownes@liherald.com
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Courtesy Village of Freeport
KEN dooKRAM, lEFt, Florence Marc-Charles and Eddy Marc-Charles were some of the members of the Freeport-Merrick Rotary who donated 2,000 masks to the Village of Freeport on Feb. 12.
Rotary Club steps up to help Continues mission of ‘service above self’ By RoNNY REYES rreyes@liherald.com
For 75 years, the FreeportMerrick Rotary Club has lived by its motto, “Service above self.” But the Rotary has faced many obstacles since the coronavirus pandemic broke out last March. The organization, which depends on public events for fundraising and community contact, faced dissipating funds and obscurity as large events were canceled and people fell into financial hardship, said club President
Florence Marc-Charles, of Queens Village. Despite the setbacks, MarcCharles and her fellow Rotarians moved their weekly meetings to Zoom, and began brainstorming ways to help Freeport, which was among the hardest-hit communities in Nassau County. The club has donated more than 6,000 masks to the village, helped stock the pantries at Long Island Cares’ Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Freeport Salvation Army, and distributed Christmas gift cards to local children living
in shelters. “The pandemic is still ongoing,” Marc-Charles said, “and we plan on doing much more to help and protect Freeport this year.” Vi c e P r e s i d e n t M a r c Rigueur, of Huntington, said the Rotary never missed a beat, even when the shutdown forced the club to cancel its weekly gatherings. Rigueur, who has worked at Freeport’s CYBS Accountants and Tax Specialists for 15 years, recalled how Rotary members quickly moved to Continued on page 12
love that there are more people from different backgrounds coming to live in our community.