Durr Center Holiday Party
Durr Center, home to MercyFirst’ s Preventive Services program, held their Annual Holiday Party with the generous support of“ The Flatlands Lions Club”, spearheaded by Mrs. Gladys Pemberton.
For many years, The Lions Club and Mrs. Pemberton have supported the holiday party with gifts, food, raffles and even a visit from Santa! The children and families enjoy games, crafts and the holiday spirit!
Santa gives out gifts to all the boys and girls.
Youth Create Tree Sculpture on Syosset Campus
If you’ re take a stroll around the grounds of the Syosset campus, you will come across a tree installation designed and built by a group of artists in an art therapy group. Five residents along with an art therapy intern met weekly to design a tree swing sculpture that they titled,“ The Chill Spot.” These young artists of MercyFirst wanted to create a structure that represented themes of peace, family, strength, and support. The art therapy group was designed as a community project combining eco-art therapy, physicality, and bringing creativity outside. Throughout the process, the youth explored creative problem solving and working together to build positive team unity. They even took a trip to Socrates Sculpture Garden in Queens, NY to get inspired by other large-scale outdoor sculptures. During the trip, one resident stated when seeing the other sculptures,“ This makes me feel like everyone can be creative in their own way.” At the sculpture garden, the youth enjoyed the interactive sculptures the most, which inspired their own design. The group met over six weeks, and used wood, paint, and rope to create their structure. The residents shared that they enjoyed the splatter painting portion the best, and are proud of seeing their design come to life!
Annual Polar Bear Plunge!
On New Year’ s Day, MercyFirst Board Chair, Scott Gildea again took the plunge in Coney Island. This year he raised over $ 25,000 for MercyFirst! Despite the 17 degree air temperature, Scott joined the hundred of other Polar Bears and jumped into the icy waters.
On January 21, a second group took the plunge, raising nearly $ 1500. MercyFirst staff member Kerri Sneden, her sister Taylor Garner and‘ Friends of MercyFirst’ Committee member, Kelly Sternkopf, all jumped in for MercyFirst!
Thank you to Scott, Kerri, Taylor and Kelly for taking the plunge for MercyFirst!