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Light Rain Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre receives $30K grant
Funds to go toward staffing for after-school learning program
The Hempstead Town Board recently supported a $30,000 grant for the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre, which will help fund the organization’s youth service programs.
The Hispanic Brotherhood — at 59 Clinton Ave. — is a non-profit organization that was established in 1984 by a small group of Latino residents in order to assist the fast growing population of immigrants from different Spanish-speaking cultures, according to its website. The grant will specifically support its after-school tutorial program.
“For nearly 35 years, the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre has been providing top notch programs and services for children and young adults in Rockville Centre, Baldwin, Oceanside, Freeport and other local communities,” Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito said in a statement. “The Town of Hempstead has supported this great organization for many years, and we are proud to provide this $30,000 grant to assist our township’s young men and women.”
The daily after-school program currently serves 28 students from Rockville Centre and Oceanside who range in age from 5 to 12, according to Marguerite Keller, co-director of the Hispanic Brotherhood. Students in middle school and high school also serve as volunteers and tutors.
The grant will go toward paying the four teachers on staff, Keller added. “It means the world to us to receive this grant,” she said. “It’s beneficial for the students in their learning process. We help them with their homework every day and then we have other activities that we do.”
In addition to youth services, the Hispanic Brotherhood provides employment assistance, emergency services, scholarship awards, immigration counseling and programs for senior citizens. The organization is funded mainly by grants, Keller said, as well as an annual scholarship dinner fundraiser in May.
“We are confident that this $30,000 grant will help children throughout the Rockville Centre area,” said Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby.
Added Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, “We are proud to continue a long and successful partnership between the Town of Hempstead and the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre.”
