Dear neighbor: Our Inauguration Celebration is rescheduled for Saturday, March 14, from 5-7pm at Alice Tully Hall.  If you would like to attend on the 14th, please re-register at our new Eventbrite HERE About the Event: Doors will open at 4pm, and entrance will be first come, first served. The Inauguration ceremony will begin at 5pm. We invite you to arrive early or stay after the ceremony for the Borough Convention and help our office and community stakeholders help set the priorities for Manhattan! Refreshments will be served. Should we exceed capacity, there will be overflow at the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus auditorium. Please reach out to events@manhattanbp.nyc.gov if you have any questions or need any special accommodations. We’re excited to welcome you all on Saturday, March 14! RSVP HERE

All best regards, Brad Hoylman-Sigal Manhattan Borough President

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https://smilefarms.org/

Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will host its ribbon cutting ceremony, opening the 9th Smile Farms campus in the New York City metro region.
Smile Farms is a not-for-profit that develops partnerships with other NFPs to create jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will create 22 such opportunities for Staten Islanders, teaching them to grow produce (hot and sweet peppers to be used to make hot sauce!, among other things), providing them with marketable skills, independence, and mental wellness benefits. They will also support “Good Neighbor Organics” grown nearby and distribute it in local SI neighborhoods identified as “food deserts.” Smile Farms was founded by Long Islander and 1-800-FLOWERS.com Founder/Executive Chairman Jim McCann, inspired by his brother who has developmental disabilities.
Fun Facts: Since its founding in 2015, Smile Farms has:
– employed more than 200+ people with different abilities in the NY metro area
– harvested 629+ lbs. of peppers (and counting!) that have been made into 1,773 bottles of “BurnAbility” hot sauce ??????
– delivered produce to nearly 600 food insecure customers
– farmed produce for 55 group homes, feeding 400 residents
– wholesaled 62,000 planted pots of annuals and perennials
– provided produce for celeb Chef Tom Colicchio’s newest restaurant, Small Batch, and much more.
This is SUCH a feel-good story. If you’d like to interview James Cuomo, (a Smile Farmer at CP Unlimited), Jim McCann (Founder/Chairman Smile Farms, Founder/Exec Chairman of 1-800-Flowers) or Susan Constantino, (President and CEO of CP Unlimited), I’d be glad to arrange it for you. I’ve attached a media advisory for you and a flyer about Smile Farms.

Jim McCann – Bio

As a child, McCann grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, and is the oldest of five siblings in an Irish-American family; McCann is a third-generation American.[1][2] For college, McCann attended the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.[1]

McCann first entered the flower business in the 1970s, when he purchased flower shops in New York City.[1][3] He had previously worked as a social worker and as a part-time bartender in the Queens and Manhattan, respectively.[1][4]

According to his autobiography, “Stop and Sell the Roses”, he came up with the idea of building a nationwide flower service while “listening to the radio as he was shaving”. In 1986, he bought a nearly bankrupt company in Texas which owned the phone number 1-800-Flowers.[3] McCann changed the name of his chain accordingly.

In 1992 and 1994, McCann established deals with online pioneers CompuServe and AOL, making his company one of the first retailers to establish an online presence.[3] In 1995, McCann established the website www.1800flowers.com, becoming one of the first retailers to establish a web presence. The company went public when it filed its IPO in 1999 under stock ticker FLWS.[1][5][6]

As of 2016, McCann stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of 1-800-Flowers in favor of his brother Christopher G. McCann.[1] McCann owns 40% of the company.

McCann serves as a director for Winthrop-University Hospital, a trustee for Hofstra University, a trustee for the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. and Children’s Progress Inc.[6][7] He is often sought after to speak on topics of entrepreneurship, marketing and the Internet. He also serves on various corporate boards.[6]

#produce #purpose #staten #island #smile #farms #jim #mccann #smilefarms #disabilities #1-800-flowers #1800flowers #skills #independence #mental #wellness #benefits #neighbor #organics #neighborhoods

find out what Jim McCann thinks about Peace, go to http://goodnewsplanet.com/what-does-peace-mean-to-jim-mccann/

The post Growing “Produce with a Purpose” on Staten Island, we speak to Good Samaritan and Founder of Smile Farms, Jim McCann appeared first on Good News!.

The truth is I have been sharing your wife, day and night when you’re not around. In fact, probably more than you.
I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage, and I’ll pay you whatever you think might be just compensation.

Regards, Alan.

THE RESPONSE

Fred, feeling insulted and betrayed, grabbed his gun, and shot his neighbor dead.
He returned home where he poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa.
He took out his phone where he saw he had a second message from his neighbor.

THE SECOND MESSAGE

Hi Fred,

This is Alan next door again. Sorry about the typo on my last text.
I expect you figured it out anyway, and that you noticed that darned Auto-Correct changed “wi-fi” to “wife” Technology hey?

Regards, Alan

The post Ain’t Technology Wonderful? appeared first on Good News!.

Paul Reed, aka Skip, drummer (for The Monkees, among others), recording artist, wordsmith, wit, raconteur, neighbor, friend, lover of life. What can you say when someone dies, except that you should have spent more time with him?

Paul Reed playing drums with the Paul Miller Quartet, Chatham, NY, US

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