Caribbean-American nurses honour Bronx food ministries and award two nursing scholarships
The Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester chapter of CANA presented its Vernese Weekes scholarships to students of Jamaican and Antiguan heritage.
NEW YORK, United States. The Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester Chapter (BMWC) of the New York-based Caribbean-American Nurses Association (CANA) on Saturday, October 10, honoured the Community Food Ministries at St Luke's Episcopal Church in the Bronx.
The recognition came during the chapter's 29th Annual Vernese Weekes Scholarship Luncheon at Eastwood Manor on Eastchester Road, where two nursing students, Morgan Forbes and Jamaar Henry, received scholarship awards.
Trinidadian-born Karen Bovell was Legacy Keynote Speaker, in recognition of her late mother, Catherine Benjamin Bovell, who was an "active and valued" member of CANA.
BMWC said the soup kitchen and food pantry at St Luke's, in the Williamsbridge neighbourhood, serve as "a critical safety net", providing warm meals and weekly groceries to families facing food insecurity. The pantry serves more than 35,000 people a year.
The chapter named its scholarship fund after its late member, Barbadian-born nurse Vernese Weekes.
The scholars
Forbes, who is of Jamaican ancestry, is studying for a Bachelor of Science in nursing at Advent Health University in Orlando, Florida.
"For me, nursing is more than a profession; it is a calling rooted in compassion, service, dedication and leadership," she said, adding that the scholarship would help ease the financial burden of higher education.
Henry, who traces his roots to Antigua and Barbuda, earned a bachelor's degree in psychology before turning to nursing and is now a nursing student at Columbia University in New York.
"I realised I didn't want to simply understand what someone was experiencing, but to be part of helping them through it," he said. "That realisation led me to nursing."
60 scholarships to date
Dr Virginia Bernard, the Jamaican-born BMWC president, said the organisation has awarded 60 scholarships to students majoring in health fields.
"Today marks the 29th year of the Vernese Weekes Scholarship Luncheon and the 30th year of the chapter," she said.
She said access to healthcare, especially for underserved and elderly people, remains an area of "tremendous concern" for the chapter, as is the growing complexity of medication management for older people.
