Days of Action
Our co-created Days of Action are a key way we build partnerships with community organizations. At RTW Foundation, we aim to provide support beyond grant funding to deepen our engagement with the community and amplify the impact our partners have across New York City!
Co-hosted with RaisingHealth Partners, we had the opportunity to provide over 120 members of the Sunset Park community in Brooklyn with a variety of health screenings, fresh produce, health resources and family fun activities. Volunteers from RTW Foundation and RTW Investments served alongside the RaisingHealth team and over a dozen other community-based partners including our friends at Mixteca, Weill Cornell Medicine, and NYU Langone Health.
To close out the calendar year and wish our BioQuest students a happy holiday break, we hosted a festive, STEM-themed party at The Lab School of Finance and Technology in the Bronx. Mentors and students competed in a Gingerbread House Engineering Challenge and took home National Geographic Chemistry Sets.
We launched our STEM Mentoring Program BioQuest with a family breakfast in Hunts Point. Families, mentors, and program collaborators met, participated in a scavenger hunt, and learned more about the program. Students received backpacks full of back to school goodies an everyone got to explore hands on microscopes and interactive science activities aboard BioBus's mobile science lab.
Families from the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn enjoyed music, kids' activities, fresh groceries to take home, and health screenings at this Summer Health Fair co-hosted with RaisingHealth Partners, Mixteca, and Send Chinatown Love. Our partners distributed resources and information on free and low-cost health and social services and gave presentations on hypertension prevention and NYC Care resources in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
Co-hosted alongside our partners at ACT Care Foundation and the office of Assemblywoman Monique Chandler-Waterman, this health fair at the Sesame Flyers Winthrop Beacon Community Center in East Flatbush, Brooklyn featured fresh food distribution, healthy cooking demonstrations, resources for healthcare services, and fun activities for families. The fair was held in conjunction with Assemblywoman Chandler-Waterman’s Vital Voice Community Meeting, focused on mental health, wellness, and celebrating mothers.
We teamed up with our partners at ACT Care Foundation to distribute fresh produce and groceries and share health resources with over 250 community members in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
We joined our partners at New Immigrant Community Empowerment for a resource fair for immigrants just arriving in New York City. Over 400 people received a warm meal and resources from community partners about education, healthcare, violence prevention, and COVID vaccines and tests.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, we partnered with Razom, a US-based non-profit led by Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American volunteers providing humanitarian support and supplies. In addition to a $100,000 donation to the organization, volunteers from RTW Foundation and RTW Investments came together with Razom volunteers to pack medical supplies to be shipped to Ukraine.
A group of RTW Foundation and RTW Investments volunteers joined our friends at GrowNYC to build park benches and prepare bags of compost for their upcoming Spring Compost Giveback.
With our support, Habitat for Humanity preserved and revitalized 200 units of affordable housing and community centers in New York City housing impacting 1,700+ low-to moderate income, majority BIPOC New Yorkers. At this Day of Action, RTW Foundation volunteers joined Habitat for Humanity in a demolition day to further prepare a home for a family in Queens.
RTW Foundation (RTWF), Areté Education and Hunts Point Alliance for Children held an event to help South Bronx children and families, including those living in temporary housing, weather the COVID-19 pandemic and thrive. State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Assembly Member Amanda Septimo joined them and discussed the impact of the pandemic on South Bronx families and the invaluable work the organizations are doing to help families in the area.
RTWF partnered with Harlem United NYC and New York Cares to distribute meals and groceries to homebound elderly community members during the pandemic. Harlem United supported greater COVID vaccine access in partnership with RTW Foundation while New York Cares was able to reach an additional 80,000 meals to families and isolated seniors with our support over two years.
RTW Foundation teamed up with Send Chinatown Love, Think!Chinatown, and Welcome to Chinatown to support AAPI small business owners across New York City. During this Day of Action, RTW volunteers and their families joined business owners and community members in Chinatown to paint outdoor dining structures to help keep businesses open during the pandemic.
RTW Foundation (RTWF) and New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) hosted a Family Fair Block Party in Jackson Heights, Queens to educate community members on the COVID-19 vaccine and help people register for an appointment. NICE provided translation and appointment navigation to new immigrant community members throughout the pandemic. Families enjoyed entertainment, fun activities, and took home free groceries as well. The Day of Action model was replicated by NICE and RTW Foundation following this first successful event!
