RISE Celebrates the Holidays!

By S. C. Samoy, RISE Director of Operations & Communications

Let it be known that RISE (Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity) knows how to party! With Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the New Year all bunched up within less than three weeks, staff and volunteers made sure to acknowledge them all by spending it together before everyone headed their own way.

Full-time staffers Juvie Anne Alfeche, Alana Danieu, Jeanne DuPont, Lea Kramberg, Erin Mulholland, and Stephanie Castillo Samoy, volunteers Ana Carrion, Jackie Duke, Diane Kololyan, Ramona Munoz, and Fran Tucio, fitness instructor Ann Fosteris, and seasonal Dune Squad member Eric Lesser listened to Christmas carols, ate lots of sliders, crinkle fries, onion rings, and kale salad from the Meat Up Grill, and participated in a White Elephant exchange. There were not too many steals, though two desirable presents were a tin of Vermont maple syrup and a knitted cream-colored scarf and hat.

RISE will be closed from December 22, 2025, to January 4, 2026, and will kickstart programming on January 5. Until then, we wish everyone a blessed holiday season!