_____________ ROCKVILLE CENTRE ____________
HERALD Vol. 35 No. 26
Two scouts earn Eagle rank
Celebrating Flag Day
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JUNE 20 - 26, 2024
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New garden opens at Mercy Smile Farms and Catholic Health expand partnership how we think about things at Smile Farms.” The initiative, which started Smile Far ms, a nonprofit in 2023 with the establishment organization created in 2015 by of a cooperative garden at Mercy Hospital’s outpatient James McCann, the founder of 1-800-Flowers, and his brother, Behavioral Health Clinic in Chris, has partnered with Cath- Garden City, aims to combat food insecurity on olic Health to Long Island while address food insesupporting the curity and provide d e ve l o p m e n t o f work opportunities those with special for people with disneeds. T he new, abilities. The collarger garden has laboration, support12 flower beds that ed by funding from will be tended by the Town of Hemppatients in the hosstead, has expanded pital’s Personalized with the creation of Recovery Oriented a new cooperative Services, or PROS, food garden at behavioral health Catholic Health’s program, who will Mercy Hospital in JosEPh receive job trainRockville Centre. MANoPEllA ing, and payment The opening of for their gardening the garden — the President, work, from Smile hospital’s second — Catholic Health’s Farms. was announced at a Mercy Hospital “While food insenews conference on curity continues to June 13 at its main campus, during which McCann grow here on Long Island, we highlighted Catholic Health’s are also aware that mental health issues continue to be on commitment to the concept of the rise as well,” Joseph Mano“food as medicine.” “It’s not just eating where it’s pella, Mercy’s president, said. medicine, but it’s when you’re “This garden, like our first, will growing it, it’s medicine,” he offer vital building blocks that said. “It’s had a big impact on Continued on page 19
By DANIEl oFFNER
doffner@liherald.com
I
Tim Baker/Herald
Rockville Centre celebrates Pride Christine Koehler and her daughter, Frances, 6, of Rockville Centre, celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Story, photos Page 3.
Synagogue donates Holocaust books to RVC school district By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
The “Never Again” committee, a group created by members of Congregation B’nai SholomBeth David to encourage Holocaust education in local schools, met with Rockville Centre School District administrators on Monday morning to donate more than 300 copies of books about the Holocaust to help educate students at South Side Middle School about this period in world history. The books, included several different titles on the subject, including “Daniel’s Story” by Carol Matas, “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne, “Sarah’s
Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay, “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” by Edith Hahn Beer, “Boy from Buchenwald,” by Robbie Waisman and Susan McClelland, “The Boy Who Dared” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and “Children of Terror,” by Bozenna Urbanowicz Gilbride and Inge Auerbacher among others. Herb Friend, a first-generation Holocaust survivor and a member of the committee, explained why the donation is deeply personal. His mother was liberated from Theresienstadt, while his father endured a harrowing escape from a death march. He was presumed to be dead, but jumped into a river and managed to Continued on page 14
couldn’t be more proud to be part of this program, and am looking forward to seeing it grow.