Public Employee Press
DC 37 News
Scholarship winners celebrate in Astoria
Zuleyka Peña had been waiting for the call from the union for a couple of months. She was hoping to get financial help to pay for her courses at Lehman College and had applied for a DC 37 scholarship.
The call finally came in late August. “I was so happy I started to cry,” said Peña, who is a member of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 and works at Bellevue Hospital Center.
Peña, Brian Phelan, MD Mohiuddin Fahim and Fidel Osorio were four of the recipients of the scholarships offered by the DC 37 Education Committee. They celebrated with their families at the Astoria World Manor in Queens during a special dinner organized by the committee.
“We appreciate all of our supporters and contributors to the scholarship fund,” said Alma Roper, chair of the education committee and executive vice president of Local 1549, at the Sept. 22 dinner. “These young students will now be able to complete their education thanks to your support.”
Among the many supporters at the affair was DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “We want to congratulate these four recipients, of course, but their parents deserve a lot of credit too, for supporting their education,” said Garrido.
Brian Phelan was not available to accept his scholarship check, but his parents were. “He’s still getting situated in Boston,” said his dad, Paul, who works at the Dept. of Human Resources Administration and is a member of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375. Brian recently started his first semester at Northeastern University in Boston, where he’s studying accounting.
MD Mohidddin Fahim is a biology major who recently started his first semester at New York University. “We appreciate the union’s support,” said his father, MD Mossain, a member of Local 375.
Fidel Osorio is the fourth scholarship recipient. His father is a member of Electronic Data Processing Employees Local 2627. Osorio enrolled at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is studying information technology.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the keynote speaker of the evening, encouraged the recipients to keep striving to achieve their goals.
“The people of this city will turn to individuals like you, to lead the way and make our city a better place to live and work,” Adams said.
