Queens Senior Center Receives Citywide Emergency Response Award

QUEENS, NY -- A Queens senior center received a citywide award for its programs that prepare seniors for emergencies, including a Meals on Wheels program that distributes hundreds of meals per day to homebound seniors.

The NYC Emergency Management Department named The Peter Cardella Senior Citizen Center its "Ready New York Senior Center of the Year" in a ceremony on Wednesday. The senior center in Ridgewood was awarded the annual honor for its "commitment to preparing seniors for emergencies," which ranges from delivering meals to seniors during weather emergencies to running safety drills with their local NYPD precinct.

Barbara Toscano, executive director of the Peter Cardella Senior Citizen Center, accepted the award on behalf of the center, pledging to continue its work with the EMD to empower senior citizens in emergency preparedness.

“The entire team at the Peter Cardella Center is dedicated to being ready, willing, and able to deliver services to senior citizens,” Toscano said.

The award ceremony highlighted the center's Meals on Wheels program for its work providing meals to seniors during Hurricane Sandy and other weather-related emergencies. Through the program, the center delivers more than 425 meals per day to the region's homebound seniors, in addition to the nearly 200 seniors it services daily, according to the EMD.

The center also offers an emergency preparedness program that includes regular presentation to its members and reminders to have a "Go Bag" packed with basic supplies, medical information and contact names and numbers in case of emergency.

“We’re very proud of the team at Peter Cardella and the center’s efforts to promote the goals of Ready New York,” said Donna Corrado, commissioner of Department for the Aging, which presented the award alongside the NYCEMD.

The EMD's Ready New York program outlines three strategies to preparing for emergencies: Make a plan for who to call and what to do in case of an emergency,prepare a stay-at-home kit with necessities like food and water for emergencies that keep you homebound, and pack a "Go Bag" for emergencies that require you to leave your home.

The program in 2017 hosted more than 50 presentations in NYC senior centers and trained more than 3,600 senior New Yorkers in emergency preparedness, according to the EMD. The department has distributed more than 129,000 "My Emergency Plan" workbooks to older New Yorkers available in more than a dozen languages.

“We are so honored to be the recipient of the 2017 Senior Center of the Year award from NYC Emergency Management," Toscano said. "It means so much to us to be recognized and we thank you for your good work in preparing all New Yorkers for emergencies."