Celebrating 32 years of community service

The United Black Men (UBM) of Queens County celebrated its 32nd anniversary with an awards dinner “Honoring Women of Color Who Have Made A Difference In Our Community.”
The honorees were Senator Shirley Huntley; Principal of the Humanities and the Arts High School Mercedes Qualls; and Sharon Sweeting Lindsey, President and CEO of a nutritional consulting company. A special Presidents Award went to Richard Gibbs.
United Black Men has been mentoring at-risk youth for the past three decades, and two years ago started a high school mentoring program at the Humanities and Arts High School, on the Campus Magnet High School Campus. Students are matched with an individual mentor from UBM. They conduct Saturday workshops on life skills, public policy, leadership, the world of work and a variety of projects, like Meet The Legislators. The students visited Senator Malcolm Smith, Assemblymembers William Scarborough and Barbara Clark.
The academic component of the mentoring program helps the students meet the requirements for promotion and graduation, and includes the regents exam preparation and SAT course preparation. UBM takes the students on college tours where they met with school faculty members and other students for an extensive tour of the college.
Lawrence Cormier is a UBM charter member and the first president elected. He is serving once again as president. Cormier and the organization intend to continue the three decade tradition of serving the community.