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HERALD
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DECEMbEr 25 - 31, 2025
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Vol. 75 No. 52
HERALD PERSON oF THE YEAR Ebony GuErriEr
A mom who turns passion into love Ebony Guerrier’s grassroots charity brings joy to families and those in need By Stacy Driks
A student led a cheerleading team in the MLK Jr. Parade. Page 3
For Ebony Guerrier, community service has never been about praise or publicity — it’s about showing up, giving back, and bringing joy to Uniondale families who need it most. Guerrier, 42, a mother of three, ages 18, 11 and 9, is a second-grade paraprofessional at Uniondale’s Smith Street Elementary School and vice president of the PTA. In September 2020 she founded Mrs. G’s Brown Bag Charity, a grassroots initiative that began with a simple food and clothing drive and grew into a year-round source of support for families across Uniondale and nearby communities. For all that she has accomplished since then, the Herald is proud to name her its 2025 Person of the Year. don't Since the early days of the cororeally have navirus pandemic in the summer of 2020, Guerrier has helped lead seasonal the financial drives and family-friendly events that budget to cover have become neighborhood fixtures, becoming a from food distributions and school supply giveaways to “trunk-or-treats.” 501(c)(3), but it “People were dying left and right,” doesn’t stop me she said of the height of the Covid-19 trauma. “I was like, how can we keep from still being the community happy and inspired? a giver. How do we do that safely?” She knew that with thousands of EboNy GuErrIEr people out of work — nearly 300,000 on Long Island by the summer of 2020, according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli — families would need food and clothing more than ever. So Guerrier turned to Facebook, her primary networking tool, to rally help. She joined community groups such as Freeport New York, Moms of Long Island and Mommy Poppins, connecting with others who wanted to give back. In the summer of 2020, in Freeport’s Randall Park, she laid out more than a dozen bags of donated items — clothing, shoes, toys and nonperishable food — on picnic tables. Most of it was given away that day, and what was left was donated to local homeless shelters and nursing homes. In Guerrier’s eyes, Uniondale does not benefit from the same charitable outreach and support as neighboring communities do. And even though there are nonprofits in the hamlet such as the Community Council, she believed that more help was needed. “I don’t feel like those opportunities are here,” she said. “And in order to make that happen, it does take somebody — some-
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Easter egg hunters hit the mother lode. Page 7
Nine civil war headstones were unveiled. Page 11
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body’s bright idea of kindness to even get that started.” Her 18-year-old daughter, Ryana Guerrier, said that when her mom comes up with an idea, she follows through on it, and nothing can stop her. “She will speak to the PTA and say how she feels, or she’ll do it by herself for her students,” Ryana said. “After, people see how good it was for the community.” Even after Ebony helped families during the pandemic, she wanted to make more of a difference, which led her to create Mrs. G’s Brown Bag Charity, whose first initiative was a school supply drive. For help, she reached out to longtime friend Kami Clahar, of Baldwin, a fellow Uniondale High School graduate. “Ebony always has ideas, and she organizes and she executes,” Clahar said. “And it’s really remarkable.” Before Halloween 2020, Guerrier came up with the idea of a trunk-or-treat, in which kids stop by cars and pick up candy, because some neighbors closed their doors for the season. “And I was like, ‘That’s a great idea,’” Clahar recalled. “It
Continued on page 2 Courtesy Ebony Guerrier
Photo: Ebony Guerrier is the founder of Mrs. G’s Brown Bag Charity, which has grown into a year-round source of support for area families in need.