Queens Parks Department Honors Rising Stars

Some Queens residents who had done some extremely altruistic things received heartfelt recognition at the Queens Parks Department's third annual Rising Stars Awards Ceremony on Feb. 25.

Held at the Overlook in Kew Gardens, the event honored young residents who had particpated in leadership, after-school and summer programs with Queens Parks and demonstrated a strong committment to improving local green spaces. These Rising Stars had mentors, whose efforts were also commemorated during the ceremony.

Mone’t Davis, who is presently 19 years old and in her second semester at Hofstra University on Long Island, was the first to receive a plaque shaped liked the Queens Parks leaf logo.

At age seven, Mone't enrolled in a Queens Parks afterschool program at the Sorrentino Recreation Center in Far Rockaway. She quickly learned the fundamentals of a few sports, but she really excelled in double dutch. In 2003, Mone't won the American Double Dutch League World Invitation Champions as part of the Sorrentino-based Stan's Pepper Steppers.

About four years ago, one of her supervisors at Sorrentino, Angela Elie, was promoted to manager at Detective Keith Williams Field House in Jamaica, another Queens Parks center. Mone't followed Elie to Jamaica, where she started conducting double dutch and step programs for younger girls, even running summer clinics.

The second honoree was Corona resident Balla Camara, 20, a native of Guinea-Conakry in West Africa, who currently studies computer science at City Tech. Balla joined the Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center in Rego Park at age 11. In his late teens, he volunteered in weekly community programs, such as cleaning up playgrounds and serving lunches at a senior center. He also got credentials to umpire children's softball games for Queens Parks.

Maspeth resident Obaid Abassi, 18, an accounting student at Baruch College, began participating in sports and fitness programs at Flushing's Al Oerter Recreation Center in 2008. He immediately volunteered for local park beautification programs, pulling up weeds and removing garbage. Last summer, Obaid was an intern in the Youth for Greener Buildings program, where he learned how to design a sustainable playground. He is also a certified umpire.

In 2009, Ben Su started attending the Teen Nights program at Al Oerter in his Flusing neighborhood. He then volunteered on litter-removal projects and helped set up the gymnassium for sports clinics. In Summer 2010, Ben, who is presently 18 and a senior at Bronx High School of Science, attended the Youth for Greener Buildings program.

Bayside's Samuel Kim and Ben have very similary stories. In 2009, Samuel began with Queens Parks via Teen Nights at Al Oerter, too. He also enrolled in the Youth for Greener Buildings program in Summer 2010. Samuel, 18, is also a senior at Bronx Science.

Charles Wang became a regular at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatic Center in 2008. He then took fitness programs at Al Oerter and took part in the Youth for Greener Buildings program. A senior at Bronx Science, the 18-year-old recently matriculated at NYU's Stern School of Business.

The mentors who received certificates of appreciation included the following: Robert Garafola, Deputy Commissioner for Management and Budget at Queens Parks; Jesse J. Sligh, the executive assistant at the Queens District Attorney's Office; Eric Wyche from Central Recreation at Queens Parks; Jamie Zelaya and Diana Diroy from the City Parks Foundation; and Jonna Carmona-Graf and Nette Compton from the Capital Projects Division of Queens Parks.