Two family daycare centers in Laurelton, Queens are the latest recipients of donations from the Brooklyn Transition Lions Club, as it gives back to the community.
Jeremy’s Place Daycare and Nicky’s Little Sprouts D.C., Inc. — owned and directed by a Guyanese-born mother, Paulette Hyman, a retired registered nurse, and her daughter Shaundell Agrippa, respectively – last Thursday received a cash donation and five cots to aid their centers.
The gifts were handed over, at an official ceremony at Jeremy’s Place Daycare, by seven members of the Brooklyn Transition Lions Club, including President Desiree Blake, also a Guyanese native and recently-retired registered nurse. The club will be celebrating its sixth anniversary later this year.
“Giving back — that’s what our motto is: ‘We Serve,’” Blake told Caribbean Life in a post-presentation interview. “It’s very good, very rewarding [to give back].”
She disclosed that Ms. Hyman had made a “generous donation,” to the Ovarian Cancer Society this summer, during the Lions District’s Family Fun Day at Baisley Park in Queens.
“She mentioned to us that they had to purchase these cots for the children [in the daycare centers], and we felt that we had to make a donation,” said Blake, stating that the donations were “well received and greatly appreciated.
“And that made us feel so good,” she added. “The members who accompanied me were so impressed with the hospitality shown to us.”
Blake also said that the children were “so well behaved” that “we sang to them the Lions song, and they sang back to us in Spanish.”
Lion Norman Benn, also Guyanese, led the children in singing the Lions Club Song: “We have the Lions spirit in my heart / We have the Lions spirit in my head / We have the Lions spirit in my feet / We have the Lions spirit all over me.”
Ms. Agrippa said the children recited their numbers and colors in Spanish for club members.
“This just encourages us to do more for the people in the community, upholding the Lion’s motto,” Blake said.
First Vice President Pamela Taylor, another Guyanese, agreed, stating: “It’s good to give back to the community, and that is why we serve in order to build a foundation that will help our youths.”
Misses Hyman and Agrippa thanked the Brooklyn Transition Lions Club for its “generous gift and support.”
“I feel it was good,” said Ms. Hyman about the presentation. “It was very inspiring that they gave this contribution.”
Ms. Agrippa concurred: “I was delighted that they came to support small businesses at a time when we’re easily overlooked.
“I do hope that other organizations would step up to help small businesses on a whole, as we continue to serve the community,” she added.
Other members of the Brooklyn Transition Lions Club contingent were: Secretary Rosamund Campbell-Davson, Past President Yvonne Wharton, and Claudette Benn — all Guyanese — and Trinidadian member Terriecitha Luces.
A week before, Blake said her club donated school supplies and monetary gifts to two daycare centers and an elementary school in Brooklyn.
