Red Cross Official Speaks To Sunnyside Chamber
BY THOMAS COGAN

Making her way through the community boards and civic groups of Queens, Joan Foley of the New York chapter of the American Red Cross arrived at Dazies Restaurant in mid-February, dispensing information about her organization's recent plans and activities to attendees at the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon. Her audience turned out to be enthusiastic and responsive. In addition to her report, there was a short report from Detective Glenn Yule of the 108th Police Precinct, and a few other comments from various sources.

Foley introduced herself as Queens-all-the-way, saying she is a native of Richmond Hill, went to high school at Christ the King on Metropolitan Avenue and currently lives in Glen Oaks. She described the New York Red Cross as being based in all of New York City and in Rockland, Putnam, Orange and Sullivan Counties, with Nassau and Suffolk Counties soon to be added. The Queens office is at 138-02 Queens Blvd. in Briarwood. She described the Red Cross as non-sectarian, humanitarian and the source of intermediate support, which follows the primary support of such agencies as police and firefighters. It was founded in England at the time of the Crimean War and was established in America during the Civil War by Clara Barton. Foley said that in the United States, 97 percent of Red Cross workers are voluntary, and of all those working with the Red Cross in Queens, only two- herself and one other person- are professional.

She said that in New York, the chief concern of the Red Cross is house fires. In Queens last year, the Red Cross responded to 900 of them. This year, she noted, a considerable apartment house fire in the Rockaways caused 46 families to apply to the Red Cross for shelter. And that's only Queens- for while she described the Rockaways as "the most at-risk neighborhood in the city", she called the fire situation in Brooklyn "quite possibly the worst in the country". Disasters can necessitate providing more than the standard food, clothing and shelter, Foley said. Mental health and grief counseling is often available from Red Cross workers to disaster victims. Many persons, she said, "can have everything taken from them in the blink of an eye," leaving them physically intact, perhaps, but mentally stunned and bereft of their possessions. She cited the case of one fire victim who became his own (and others') counselor by appearing before interested audiences to relate what he had gone through and how he must overcome his misfortune.

Foley lamented that the Red Cross board of directors for Queens has no Black or Jewish members, indicating that there is a problem of reaching out. A recent effort involved appealing to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In doing that, the Red Cross encountered an Ecuadorian-American bank officer in Jackson Heights who related that he greatly appreciated aid given by the Red Cross to him and his family several years ago when they, like so many others over the years, were displaced by fire. She said a shortage of volunteers is a significant problem, adding that the shortage is particularly bad in the aforementioned Rockaways. The drive to get funds and volunteers is constant, and she didn't shirk an opportunity to clarify the procedure: she steered her listeners to the New York Red Cross Web site, www.nyredcross. org, and said they should direct funds to NYRC. That moved one attendee, Vincent Renda, of the Edward Jones investment company, to alert everyone that the federal Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows certain individuals to make qualified charitable distributions, up to $100,000 per year, directly from a traditional or Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Such distributions don't count against deduction limits for charitable contributions, so they can be made in addition to standard ones. It is limited to IRA holders 70 and one-half years old or older and, absent a renewal, is in effect only until the end of this year- but Renda's announcement caused a notable stir.

Also present at the luncheon were Veysel Ucan and Ayhan Ozturk of the Turkish-American Multi-Cultural Educational Foundation, at 43-49 45th St. in Sunnyside, who wanted to put in a word for the Red Crescent, the Muslim organization analogous to the Red Cross. Foley was glad to meet them, and she praised the Red Crescent as the principal responder to the Indian Ocean tsunami in late December 2005.

Detective Yule told the luncheon crowd to be aware that burglaries seem to be making a comeback. He added that the number of household windows left open carelessly could only encourage burglars. He warned motorists that electronic map systems for the car, such as Tom-Tom, are hot items for thieves, who will break into cars by the drivers' seats, pop open the trunks, and have complete access to the goods. He had a happier announcement too: a breakfast for the 108th Police Precinct's Commander Captain Thomas Kavanagh, which is to be held Tuesday, March 20 at 9 a.m. at the Water's Edge restaurant, on the East River at 44th Drive. All are invited, he said. William Egan, of Queens Chamber of Commerce, said that this year's QCC St. Patrick's luncheon would be held Thursday, March 15 at noon at the usual place, Terrace on the Park- that's Flushing Meadows - Corona Park.

A few days before the luncheon, Dazies had a visit from a National Broadcasting Company crew that was there to shoot a restaurant scene for its comedy series, "30 Rock". The episode should appear some time in the coming weeks, on Thursday at 9:30 p.m.