It is freezing temperatures outside and Aleksander Nilaj (Alex) is handing out the last remaining flyers to invite those in need to come and pick up a warm Coat at the nearby Nicodemus Social Club. Alex and the Albanian American Open Hand Association and his partners, Miriam Quin and DardaMEDIA are giving out Coats to the most vulnerable and less fortunate of the Bronx. Over a period of several months they’ve collected over 200 coats in preparations to help the needy for the freezing winter is on our doorstep.
Alex is an Albanian who came to the States over a decade ago and following the teachings of St.Mother Teresa he wholeheartedly gives back to the community and to the less fortunate and he does it with great Love
like St.Mother Teresa taught us to. From Albania he brought with him not only the teachings of St.Teresa but also the experience as he has been working with the Red Cross helping those in need back home and continues to help those in need here in the Bronx.
“Following the teachings of St.Mother Teresa “
Alex teamed up with – The Bronxsite own Photographer Miriam Quin and DardaMEDIA to achieve the best out of this event. Miriam remembered vividly when she first started to help the needy, she was with her first baby boy and started noticing homeless people trembling in the cold on the streets of The Bronx. This one time Miriam recalls, she met a lady with her baby girl nearby where she was residing at the time, the lady had no coat on and her baby girl wasn’t covered with a blanked. It was cold and snowing that day and Miriam felt so bad for them and couldn’t help it but take her baby boys blanket and put over the babygirl who was trembling in snow. Although the lady was refusing and wasn’t going to let Miriam leave her boy without a blanket, Miriam persuaded her to take the blanket telling her that she lives just around the block. This was the moment Miriam says it made her always give back to the community and help organizing events such as Food Drive and Coat Drive especially around holidays and winter time. Now that she teamed up with Alex, she believes it will be much easier to help others in the years to come as we are getting more people together to give back to the community Miriam continued.
In our busy life it is easy to forget about people who need a little help from those who are better of and well accomplished. It is easier to sometimes just mind our own business and turn the blind eye and never look back, but as we enter the freezing winter I have to ask something of you Dear New Yorker, I have to ask of you if you are someone or if you know someone, a friend, your neighbor or a family member who has eyes to see and ears to hear and perhaps a heart to heal, please ask them to stop for a moment breathe and look around. There are people among us who for some reason or another are less fortunate than us and they need our help.
It goes without saying that now is the time that we join our forces with organizations such as AAOHA – Albanian American Open Hand Association, Alex Nilaj and Miriam Quin a photographer who has seen the horrors of the cold through her lens and can’t stop but helping others, something we should all do and not only in the freezing temperatures but throughout the year.
If you have an Albanian New York related story, Contact the author info@dardamedia.com
Rex MYFTARI
is the Founder and CEO of DardaMEDIA.com
