| JANUARY UPDATE Snow and icy temperatures didn’t stop PAL from showing up for our kids and communities all month long. From MLK Day of Service at the Duncan Center to spirited games at the New South Bronx Center and a meaningful music therapy workshop, January was full of creativity, connection, and community pride, with young people, volunteers, and partners coming together to learn, lead, and have fun. |
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MUSIC THERAPY WORKSHOP: JAN 12 PAL’s MAAP and Fair Futures team joined Good Shepherd Services for a collaborative music therapy workshop with our youth. Even in the bitter cold, 12 PAL teens still made it out ready to show up, participate, and create. The afternoon included a thoughtful Q&A where young people felt safe opening up about depression, difficult relationships, and even their interest in pursuing careers in mental health. The session was led by motivational speaker and youth advocate Omar James, who shared how music helped him turn his life around after a troubled youth that included drugs and incarceration. Using an AI music generator, Mr. James arrived with a beat ready for lyrics and broke the group into three teams to write a full song together. By the end, the room was buzzing as the youth performed what they’d written—singing, cheering, laughing, and dancing together. Omar was joined by psychologist Dr. Philip Yanos of John Jay College and Terrell Belfield, an East New York Community Board candidate for City Council, making it a powerful afternoon of creativity, mentorship, and connection. Link to photos below. |
DUNCAN CENTER MLK DAY OF SERVICE: JAN 19 This year, for their Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Duncan Center students teamed up with Xavier High School students to support P.S. 111’s Community Library by designing and creating handmade, original bookmarks. Throughout the week, our kids kept the momentum going with at least 80 PAL youth and Xavier volunteers collaborating on positive, kid-friendly reading bookmarks. Then on the official Day of Service, over 30 participants came together for a focused, high-energy session of crafting, coloring, and encouraging-message writing to help deliver their promised total of 125 bookmarks. The best part was how the Xavier teens and PAL kids worked side-by-side, swapping creative ideas and building off each other’s designs. There was lots of laughter, lots of “Wait—what about this?”, and a whole lot of heart in every single bookmark headed to that community library. Link to photos below. |
COPS & KIDS BASKETBALL GAME: JAN 29 On January 29th, PAL’s New South Bronx Center was bursting with energy for an unforgettable PAL Staff vs. Cops basketball game. It was fast-paced, loud (in the best way), and full of smiles from start to finish, with everyone playing hard and cheering even harder, especially when PAL Staff won the tournament! We loved seeing such a strong show of support from the community. Officers from the 41st Precinct came out in a big way, including Captain Badilla, and the President and members of the Community Association Board were also in the stands, rooting everyone on. Because the game took place during after-school programming, the crowd was especially lively, with around 75 kids cheering, including the NYPD Explorers. The atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming, and the whole event felt like what PAL does best: real connection, real engagement, and plenty of fun and camaraderie. Link to photos below. |
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| | | | | | | 34 1/2 E. 12th Street; New York, NY 10003 #policeatheliticleague#artyouthprograms#sunstormfineartmagazine#sunstormfornartmagazine.com#fineartmagazineboh.blogspot |
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