On Friday, February 16^th the St. John’s Women’s Basketball team hosted the Creighton Bluejays at its annual Pink Game aiming to bring awareness to the fight against breast cancer and to honor survivors. SHAREing & CAREing attended the game as special guests of the team, disseminating information about cancer awareness and its free services for those impacted by cancer.

SHAREing & CAREing, in partnership with the Village Service Club, was once again out in the community giving support to cancer patients! 

Anna Kril (Founder & President), Eartha Washington (Vice President), Laura Jean Hawkins (Advisory Board Chair) and Rosa Sarmiento (Bilingual Spanish Navigator) handed out Mother’s Day themed goodie bags to patients at the Queens Cancer Center and the Elmhurst Hospital Breast Center.

The goodie bags, part of SHAREing & CAREing’s 2022 outreach efforts, were designed to provide comfort to patients during their cancer treatment and to let them know that they are not alone in their fight against cancer.

Anna Kril (Founder & President) and Laura Jean Hawkins (Advisory Board Chair) helped spread the love this Valentine’s Day at the Queens Cancer Center in Jamaica, New York.

Anna and Laura Jean handed out goodie bags and winter hats, knitted with love by Rachael J. a local High School student, to patients at the Infusion and Radiation Centers to give them comfort during their cancer treatments and to show them that they are not alone.

SHAREing & CAREing has partnered with the Center, led by the nationally and internationally recognized Dr. Margaret Kemeny, for over 20 years. The Center, established through the efforts of the late Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, is recognized as a Center of Excellence in Cancer Care and is one Queen County’s crown jewels.

This therapy workshop, part of our regular Survivor Support Group meetings, was organized by SHAREing & CAREing.

Regardless if they are going through cancer treatment or recovery, the participants of this workshop created the floral arrangement as a part of a therapeutic experience.

This creative process can often reduce stress, anxiety and loneliness. The benefit of this successful activity helps the participants:

•  Became more self- aware
•  Communicate and interact with others
•  Build self -esteem
•  Find comfort, freedom and hope

To register for upcoming events like this one, subscribe to our event newsletter today.

21 members attended this Kick-Off Post COVID-19 Support Group, which was led by Anna Kril, President & Founder of SHAREing & CAREing and two times breast cancer survivor; and the special guest: Jodi Ziselman, LCSW-R, OSW-C.

The support group was for a long-time cancer survivor and newly survivors. 3 of our members are in chemotherapy treatment or recently diagnosed with cancer. SHAREing & CAREing offered a comfortable place to be heard and understand the new ways to deal with the challenges of new virus and vaccinations. The support group was officially for two hours, due to the diverse need of each person the session was extended one more hour. Our special guest focused on each person special needs and she was able to design a therapeutic plan with the goal of a positive outlook.

The group will be experienced in the future sessions  not only educational therapist-session but also social-art activities to decreased the anxiety and stress.

We are very excited to share that SHAREing & CAREing is successfully registered with AmazonSmile. Under this program, Amazon users can select a charity which will benefit from their purchases. It does not cost anything to participate and the AmazonSmile site contains the same Amazon products and the same prices you know and love.

To participate in the charity give back program you’ll just need to make your purchases from the AmazonSmile page at smile.amazon.com. You can also get to the AmazonSmile page by logging into Amazon as usual, going to settings and selecting AmazonSmile. Once on AmazonSmile you can select us as your charity. We are registered as:

Astoria Queens Share-Ing and Care-Ing, Inc. You can also use the link below to go directly to “our” page and start shopping!

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/11-3220371

Please use and pass along to all of your Amazon shopping friends and family. If you shop at Amazon already, we hope you will consider helping SHAREing & CAREing with your holiday shopping and all year round. Your support makes a difference!

Lucille Hartmann, one of the original co-founders of SHAREing & CAREing has passed away after a long illness. As the former District Manager of Community Board 1 in Queens, Lucille was a beloved member of the Astoria-Long Island City community. 

She will be missed by all who knew her. Her fellow co-founders as well as the Board and Staff of SHAREing & CAREing extend their deepest sympathy to her family and loved ones. 

On behalf of the Board and Staff of SHAREing & CAREing, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Assemblymember Aravella Simotas for her long-standing support of our mission and the services that we provide to cancer survivors, caregivers and community members in her district and throughout Queens. Her support, guidance and friendship through the years has been greatly appreciated.

We would also like to thank her for her years of dedicated service to our community and for her work on behalf of women’s issues including gender equality, women’s healthcare and supporting and empowering survivors of sexual assault. She has been a real champion of women and a voice on our behalf in Albany.

We wish her all the best as she enters the next exciting chapter of her life and career!

Photo courtesy of Samdarche – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

On Friday, August 14, 2020, SHAREing & CAREing presented a Community Health Outreach event at Ponce Bank in Jackson Heights, Queens.

The event, part of Ponce de Leon Foundation’s Bilingual Community Outreach activities, was a great success.  Rosa Sarmiento, SHAREing & CAREing’s Bilingual Spanish Navigator, along with bank employees provided cancer awareness information, COVID-19 prevention information and PPE supplies to Ponce customers and community members in an effort to help raise awareness among the Spanish-speaking community of Jackson Heights.

With NYC now in Phase 4, ASTORIA/QUEENS SHARE-ING and CARE-ING, INC. dba SHAREing & CAREing has announced that they have begun steps to re-open its office, located at 4502 Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens.

Since mid-March, SHAREing & CAREing’s office has been physically closed in compliance with the Governor’s Executive Order. Its staff, however, has continued to provide services and assistance to cancer survivors, their families and caregivers using its website, email and online and social media platforms.

According to SHAREing & CAREing’s Founder & President Anna Kril, “In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we have experienced an increased demand for professional mental health support services, including our individual and group counseling. To meet this demand, we have increased our provision of individual and group telemental health services. We have also been offering an additional weekly support group, at the request of—and to meet the ongoing needs of—our survivors.”

“In addition, we are offering sessions and workshops on anxiety, stress management, and loving and grieving. Our partners include the International High School for Health Sciences, Frank Sinatra High School and the Queens Public Library,” Ms. Kril added.

Recognizing that cancer survivors, especially those currently in treatment, are among the most physically vulnerable during this pandemic AND are at increased risk for mental illnesses including clinical depression, complicated grief, anxiety and PTSD, SHAREing & CAREing has focused much of its efforts on addressing the mental health needs of its community these past few months. According to SHAREing & CAREing’s Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Merryl Reichbach “Our members have lost loved ones to COVID-19, are worried about family members on the front lines, have experienced job loss, and have to cope with ongoing, indefinite self-quarantine and social isolation. Our group and individual counseling include evidence-based interventions geared to help our community reduce risk, isolation, anxiety, depression and trauma.”

With the expiration of the Governor’s Executive Order and NYC entering Phase 4, SHAREing & CAREing has re-opened its office in a limited way. While in-person appointments are not yet possible, phone assistance has resumed. According to SHAREing & CAREing’s Bilingual Spanish Navigator Rosa Sarmiento, “I will be staffing the office from 8:30am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday, offering assistance in English and Spanish.”

“Until there is a vaccine or cure for COVID-19, the populations we serve will continue to need to self-isolate because of their high risk-status and suffer increased stress”, continued Ms. Sarmiento.

Concluded Ms. Kril, “Many in our community will continue to face unemployment and financial hardship AND will continue to need the help that SHAREing & CAREing can provide. With the support of the NYC Council and private funders, my staff and I are committed to working with our local hospitals – NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens & its Queens Cancer Center and Mount Sinai Queens – and our other partners to provide programming and services during these uncertain, and changing, times.”

If you or someone you know needs support, linkages to free or low cost cancer screenings or other cancer services, please contact SHAREing & CAREing at 718-777-5766.