On December 16, 2011, staff and Out-of-School Youth (OSY) program students from the KRA Career Institute (KCI) Dental Assistant Training Program in New York City, participated in the company’s annual, all-volunteer Community Care Day Initiative. They celebrated the occasion by volunteering at the Yorkville Common Pantry in Manhattan, where they assisted with registering area residents; assembling pantry bags with non-perishables, fresh fruit and vegetables, and fresh poultry; and placing bags in the shopping carts the residents had brought with them.
Thomas Davis, KRA Program Manager, reported, “The Yorkville Common Pantry serves over 2,000 families a month, from all five boroughs, providing hot and cold food packages, as well as other supportive resources and services through its on-site case management program. It is the largest community-based pantry in New York City, allowing thousands of participants to choose culturally appropriate and nutritionally balanced food packages. The Pantry provides each family with meals for 3-to-4 days with an option to return within 10-to-12 days.”
The KRA team prepared over 100 pantry bags throughout the day, for which the Pantry’s Volunteer Director was grateful since many of the regular volunteers were leaving for the day. Also, she was surprised to see young people assisting with the Pantry, as she stated, “Sometimes it’s difficult to find youth who are willing to commit to a couple of hours in volunteering and helping out the community. It would be nice to have the youth volunteer at least every other month to encourage the young adult population to come out and receive the services we provide.” Davis concluded, “We couldn’t think of a more deserving organization to support this year…so much so that we have decided to volunteer twice a month at the Pantry, as part of KCI’s ongoing community-support and field-excursion program for the students.”
Pictured below are Shantae Gravesande, KCI/OSY student and Thomas Davis, KRA Program Manager.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
