CB8 honors community members, merchants for their work

Community Board 8 will honor five recipients of the 2022 Irving Ladimer Community Service awards and four businesses with the Betty Campbell Adams Award for Most Valuable Merchant at its Sept. 13 board meeting.

Ladimer, a former CB8 member, was 102 years old when he died in July 2018, but would continue to attend CB8 meetings right up until the very moment he couldn’t anymore. He first joined the advisory board in the late 1980s after he himself had crossed the 70 years old mark.

The five Ladimer winners are The Riverdale Y Jewish Community Center, Senior Volunteer Meals Program; Sara Allen and Selma Raven; Danny Monge; Rita Freed, and Julie Jenkins.

In its news release on the Ladimer award, CB8 pointed out the reasons for choosing the five winners.

The Riverdale Y Jewish center was chosen for its outstanding efforts in helping 200 homebound seniors daily during and after the pandemic by delivering meals and offering companionship.

Allen and Raven were honored for their immediate response to food insecurity by starting the first community fridge in the Bronx. Through the Friendly Fridge, the two directed 5,000 to 7,000 pounds of food per week to the needy.

Monge was named for outstanding work as volunteer coordinator of Angel Tree, an organization that hosts Christmas parties for children of incarcerated parents. He also volunteered with Together We Can Free Communities, where he helped restore the Bell Tower Memorial flagpole.

Freed was honored for her tireless environmental efforts in cleaning, beautifying and maintaining green spaces on all sides of the Knolls Crescent shopping district for years.

Jenkins was chosen for initiating and guiding the volunteer cleanup effort in Ewen Park. She raised funds, sought volunteers and created a calendar to bring people together to clean and reclaim parts of the park that had graffiti and garbage.

Campbell Adams award winners

This year’s Campbell Adams winners are Laura Levine-Pinedo and Andre El-Saieh of the Bronx Burger House, Eduvigis Marmolejos from One Yoga for All, Patricia Cassiere and Joe Sparacio from Cora’s Hardware (which recently closed as the owners retired), and Jimmy Packes (posthumously) from Riverdale Auto Clinic.

The following are comments from CB8 judges on each of the four winners:

• Bronx Burger House: Levine-Pinedo (manager) and El-Saieh (owner) work tirelessly to make an impact on the community. Some of their activities include providing hot meals to the Hebrew Home essential workers during the pandemic, hosting activities and celebrations for families at the Broadway Family Plaza, leading fundraising drives to help fire victims in the Bronx, and partnering with Giving Friends.

• One Yoga for All: Eduvigis has a keen sense of the importance of community and has built inclusiveness into her business. She stands out as a business owner who promotes other minority-owned businesses in the Bronx by organizing a regular pop-up market in her yoga studio. She offered donation-based classes, providing yoga instruction to those who cannot afford it.

• Cora’s Hardware: Cassiere was a founding member of the North Riverdale Merchants Association, now known as the Riverdale Main Streets Alliance. She served as treasurer for more than a decade and worked diligently toward the success of businesses on Riverdale Avenue.

• Riverdale Auto Clinic (formerly Tigerdale Automotive): The Riverdale Press has chronicled the many kindnesses Jimmy showered on his Riverdale customers, including for front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He provided dedicated and friendly service, often recognizing customer financial limitations. Packes enticed other merchants to remain in our community and enhanced economic growth. Jimmy’s warmth and dedication to the community will be long remembered, even as we mourn his passing in January at 83.