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Last week, Councilwoman Adrienne Adams hosted a forum for small businesses and minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) at Resorts World Casino NYC.

The panelists included SBS Commissioner Gregg Bishop, Jonnel Doris, director of the Mayor’s Office for MWBEs, QEDC Deputy Director Ricardi Calixte, Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Tom Grech and Dr. Simone Lord of the Southeast Queens Chamber of Commerce.

The event focused on networking and resources for the small business community, particularly MWBEs.

“Small businesses and M/WBEs are the backbone of our community,” Adams said, “and our thriving economy so it is important to understand the challenges these business owners face and help provide the resources that allow them to thrive.”

Councilman Eric Ulrich’s office is organizing a food drive to support local pantries and families in need.

During the Lenten season, his office will collect donations for the food pantry at St. Mary Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic Church in Ozone Park, as well as the pantry at St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Roman Catholic Church in Rockaway and Broad Channel.

These are the food items needed at the churches’ food pantries:

• Canned meats
  • Chili with beans
  • Corn beef hash
  • Vienna sausage
  • Tuna fish
• Soup
  • Chicken noodle soup
• Pasta
• Italian sauce
• Beef ravioli sauce
• Spaghetti and meatballs
• Macaroni and beef
• Macaroni and cheese (boxes)
• Bread
• Canned vegetables
  • Carrots
  • Spinach
  • Sweet peas
  • Corn
• Canned beans
  • Kidney beans
  • Baked beans
• Rice
• Boxed Potatoes
• Canned fruit
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Fruit cocktail
• Cereal
• Peanut butter
• Jelly

The canned/non-perishable food donations can be dropped off at Ulrich’s district office at 93-06 101st Avenue (Ozone Park), or the Rockaway Park district office at 114-12 Beach Channel Drive, Suite 1.

Both offices are open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Donations will be taken until April 9.

Community activist Richard David has announced his candidacy for the New York State Assembly.

David will run for the vacant seat in District 31, which encompasses the southeast Queens neighborhoods around JFK Airport: Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere, Far Rockaway, Hammels, Richmond Hill, Rosedale, South Ozone Park, Springfield Gardens and Wakefield.

The position was vacated after former Assemblywoman Michele Titus was elected as a Queens Civil Court judge earlier this year. Titus has served in the Assembly since 2002.

Governor Cuomo is expected to declare a special election in the next few days. The regularly-scheduled primary is set for June 23rd.

David has lived in southeast Queens for 25 yeas, and is currently a district leader for Assembly District 31.

He spent 10 years working in government, and was at one point one of the youngest members of his local community board.

He co-founded a youth-led social justice organization, and led the nonprofit desk of a private government relations firms.

David is also an adjunct history professor at York College.

For tonight’s State of the Union address in Washington D.C., Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is bringing an injured airport worker as her guest.

Hacheler Cyrille, a young mother, was 17 weeks pregnant when she fell on a baggage conveyor belt while working at JFK Airport for American Airlines contractor Eulen America.

Eulen America has been accused of endangering workers’ health and safety in the past.

Cyrille said Eulen made it difficult to get her job back after the incident. The New York City Human Rights Commission is currently investigating her pregnancy discrimination complaint.

By bringing Cyrille to the State of the Union, Gillibrand will highlight the need for responsible contractors and prioritizing safety for workers.

“Women like Hacheler are essential to ensuring that workers have the right to join together and fight for the pay and protections they deserve,” Gillibrand said.

A new affordable industrial center has opened in Ozone Park, thanks to funding and support from state agencies.

Last week, the nonprofit industrial developer Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) marked the site’s opening along with Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul and a slew of government officials.

The 85,000-square-foot facility will provide affordable space to more than two dozen local small and mid-sized manufacturing businesses.

The 113-year-old factory site was renovated with $11 million in investments from the state.

The industrial center is spread over three buildings and spans an entire city block. It will be leased to woodworkers, artisans, custom fabricators and other entrepreneurs.

Officials estimate it will provide about 80 jobs at the facility.

Read more about the industrial center in this week’s Leader-Observer.

On Tuesday, Councilman Adrienne Adams hosted a hair donation event where young people donated their locks to a local nonprofit.

Thanks to free haircuts and styling from Aracelis Unisex hair salon, every young person was able to donate hair to Butterflies by Blaq, which provides high-quality wigs to children with medical conditions.

The group was formed in 2012 by Erna Blackman, a former volunteer at American Cancer Society, to assist children coping with hair loss.

At the event, Saaya Kanhoye, 14, donated 14 inches of her hair. Her 9-year-old sister, Shaila, donated 35 inches of hair.

“Hair donors like Shaila and Saaya are important to us because longer hair donations are the building blocks of wig creation,” Blackman said. “Most of the girls that request our services now want longer hair. Although we accept and are grateful for 10 inches, the desired lengths are 12 inches or more.

“We love it when we meet young people who feel the need to give back,” she added. “People helping people makes the world a better place.”