Seniors could be seen lining up for a unique and nutritious meal in the Pio Mendez apartments on Lafayette last week. HPAC, along with City Year, helped the children of Hunts Point give the elder citizens of the area a nutritious meal, provided by the $1 million donation from Heather Mills.  The children handed out bags of vegan hot dogs, burgers and other dishes with directions on how to make them.

“When I went to feed the elderly it made me feel very happy because I
thought I was stopping environmental racism. When I saw the smiles on
their faces it made my day better than what it was. I believe we
should do something like that again. I hope Dahiana from HPAC enjoyed
our help,” says Duane Murray, an 8th grader from MS 302.

“Just a few days ago, I went on a trip with City Year to feed the
elderly. It was so amazing to see the happy people thanking us. It
made me think, if we can make a change this small, if we all worked
together, we could really change the world for the better. I
definitely can’t wait for the next service. Thank you HPAC!” says Ashley
Amaro, also an 8th grader from MS 302.

Check out photos on our facebook page, and while you are there, hit the “like” button at the top!

The Banknote is located on 1201 Lafayette Avenue

At long last, the office for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children has moved to the 4th floor of the Banknote building, on Lafayette Avenue.  Come by and check out our new office space, or to just drop by and see how we are making Hunts Point better every day!

A local resident and FarmShare advocate, Carmen Rodriguez, was recently featured in an online article on CNBC’s website.  The article details the progress the program has made in the Hunts Point area.

To see the story, go here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38659746

I always hated Thursdays I felt like it was just a useless day in the week, but today was like the funniest Thursday ever. I worked on a prompt that I really enjoyed and interest me a lot. We basically had a talisman that we individually choose then we had to write a piece about the object and it’s significance to us. I really liked it because it forced me to step out of my comfort zone and just really use my imagination to create a story about an object I had no connection with. After the meeting a couple of friends and some of our RA’s went out to the back and played a game of capture the flag with I never played before and found really entertaining. It was really fun, my team won which may it even better and after we just all hung out laying on the grass and talking about all different kind of things until it became dark outside. Tomorrow’s Friday and we have to submit a piece of our writing for the anthology by Saturday at noon. We might get extended curfew so I’m really excited about added last touches to my piece and improving what I’ve written.

My object was a marble; within that marble was nothing.  I can only see through it and see nothing, but as I sat in the class I thought that this marble is actually me.  It’s weird but I sort of expressed it in my poem.  Then the last few minutes of class, I got the sense that I’m actually improving slowly and I can only depend on God to help me in my writing.  The day ends with myself in my dorm getting ready for a little get together at an area named the Coffeehouse.

Today, the second meeting with the group seemed more fast paced.  Everything was going really well.The instructor asked us to write a poem and a story.  I basically wrote a poem about my grandfather, who I never met but I thought it would be a good idea to paint a picture of him in my head.  I painted this picture of him as being this hardworking individual, coming to the US from Puerto Rico with his mind set upon a dream.  It was quite interesting, but seemed a little peculiar because I did not know anything about him.  But at least I know I tried.  Then, in the middle of the day, I reflected on my writing, and compared it to what I am seeing in the book that we received, which is part of the program.  I noticed that in my writing I’m not so descriptive so that is something I need to work on.  The day came to an end, with me walking around, reading a passage from the book in this serene area and jotting down some notes.  I love it here.

The first day I entered I expected a more boring class where all we do is just write.  My teacher/instructor, Tori, made the class very entertaining.  She said, “Think of anything to write. Just write and  try to think outside the box a little – just have fun while writing.”  I thought this was pretty interesting because I never wrote without given a topic.  But it suit me best and now I’m more comfortable with it.

While in class, there was moment where we had to make a timeline.  This timeline must be creative; nothing historical but more about yourself and your family.  While making the timeline, she told us to choose something from the line and basically write about it.  I choose the year when N.Y.C underwent a blackout, I made it very interesting.

After class, the day went on, I met new friends and became very excited that each day I will approach such kind people.

I have had a very comforting sleep in my dorm room with my newly met roommate Isabelle. The ride to Kenyon College was long but interesting because of all the rows of cornfield and cows. It made me just want to jump out of the van and run through them. As I arrived, I was greeted by many Room Assistants (or RA’s) and went right into my room. In the night I was excited to be introduced to my classmates. It turns out that there are stick on glow in the  dark lights that made the night seemingly cool-ish.  The next day after some really good breakfast, I headed out to my classroom and met about 12+ more people.  Other than some free writing, the classes were good. In the end I hung out after in the athletic center, swimming and hanging out with my friends. Today and yesterday was, I can say confidently, fantastic!