The Jamaica Rotary Club of Queens honored courageous police officers with a plaque on Wednesday afternoon June 29. The honorees also received a certificate of appreciation from a local city group. The Jamaica Rotary has a large presence of Indo Caribbeans who sponsored several of its activities. Joe Laboni is the President.
The event was held at the Villa Russo catering hall in Richmond Hill. Honorees and their family and friends were treated to a sumptuous buffet style luncheon comprising of West Indian and Italian dishes. The luncheon and the plaques were sponsored by Trinidadian Randy Ramnath, 2nd Public Relations officer of the Rotary. A member of the Rotary sponsors the monthly program. Almost all of the monthly program in recent times have been sponsored by Indo-Caribbeans.
Jamaica Rotary Club has been honoring New York Police department’s Finest since 1989 presenting them with the Edward R Byrne Memorial Award. The honors are given monthly, the last Wednesday.
Officers from four precincts in South Queens were honored. The honorees included Victor Hiciano of the 100 Pct.; Andrew Berberich of the 102 Pct, Jared Nilson of 102, Sean Bartlett of 103 Pct., Kevin Donato of 103; Emmanuel Jean of 113 Pct, Edward Jensen of 113; Justin Steigerwald of 106, John Bonhomme of 106, Nathaniel Tauber of 106, Peter Giganti of 106. The police officers were honored for selfless dedication and sacrifices — powerful testament to their courage and character. As their commanding officers revealed, they did not hesitate to put the safety of others ahead of their own.
The Indo-Caribbean community is grateful that the officers answered the call to serve. As Indo-Caribbean Rotary members noted, the community owe a deep debt of gratitude to them and their families for their service. Randy Ramnath, Sharon and Shavani, two guests, and other attendees thank the brave men and women who wear blue for selflessly risking their lives for public safety.
Several prominent businessmen and women from the Indo-Caribbean community as well as media operators graced the function to cheer honorees.
