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Newsletter Issue
#61 |
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What an
amazing summer we have had! It has been a wonderful experience seeing
our children back in person. We are happy to share that we have safely
completed the first summer camp post mandatory shut downs. The kids were
happy to be around each other once again and enjoy a live social
setting. Children thrive when they have engaging peer interactions with
healthy and caring adult supervision. We are now preparing for our Fall
schedule of activities and we look forward to seeing our participants in
the Fall! |
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Thanks to everyone who came out in support of the Sesame Flyers International Caribbean Essence Awards and Showcase at the beautiful and luxurious El Caribe on Sunday July 25th. It was great to see our Sesame Flyers Family in full swing after so much time apart and only in virtual settings. We honored our young people’s academic excellence with scholarships and highlighted the commitment of community leaders at the awards portion of the night. Later in the evening, we celebrated our rich Caribbean Heritage with song, dance, and our costume presentation for the West Indian Parade Festivities this year.
This was a
night long to be remembered. |
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On Saturday August 7th Sesame Flyers International brought the Steel Pan
community together for a star studded night of Pan on the Rooftop at the
legendary Brooklyn Children’s Museum. The sweet sounds of pan filled the
air, old friends reunited, and the “now” generation of pan got an
opportunity to showcase their talent for the grand stage. This event
brought back long time Steel Pan Director Mr. Keith Marcelle as well as
many Sesame Flyers babies who are now all grown up and making an
impression on the pan community. The featured artists included Freddie
Harris III, Pan Evolution, Khuent Rose, Jonathan Scales, Steel
Sensation, Earl Brooks Jr., Kareem Thompson, Andre White, and Duvone
Stewart. Attendees were asked to wear white in honor of those we have
lost during the pandemic and who were a part of the Steel Pan community.
We paid tribute to them and acknowledged their family members who came
to support the Now Generation. We look forward to supporting the Now
Generation of Pan with future events. |
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Sesame Flyers
International Dance Company had the opportunity to be featured on an
episode of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozi, airing in April 2022. The SFI
Dance Company was a featured act on this nationally syndicated PBS show
that highlights cultural dance from around the world. It was a great
opportunity for Sesame Flyers to show the world our Caribbean pride. SFI
Dance Company was also asked to perform for the Brooklyn Children’s
Museum Celebrate the Caribbean Day. It was an honor to display the love
we have for our culture in the very same museum that presents our Mas
Camp and cultural activities in a permanent exhibit. We look forward to
more collaborations with the City, institutions, and other organizations
looking to celebrate Caribbean Culture. |
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In honor of
Janet Rousseau, one of the founders of Sesame Flyers, the members of
Sesame Flyers International came together to create a day of delight for
the community. Delicious cultural meals were created for the community
and also served as a fundraiser for the agency. The turnout was great
and there is a demand for more! Please stayed tuned for information on
the next Grab and Go. |
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We would like to thank Mr. Jayson Taylor Esquire and Carver Bank who
helped Sesame Flyers secure a loan to renovate our headquarters at 3510
Church. Our building has been in need of repairs for over 5 years. This
loan now puts us in the right direction to have our building reflect the
excellence that we have provided our community for the last 38 years.
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This
has been a tremendous summer for Sesame Flyers. One filled with
engaging, in person activities for our young people and opportunities
for us to celebrate Caribbean culture. In this edition of the Newsletter
we delve right in and discover some of the best moments of this summer.
As the summer is slowly coming to a close, we know that means we are
just a few weeks closer to our ultimate Caribbean celebration. While
there will not be a traditional West Indian Day Parade along Eastern
Parkway, there will be many festivities Labor Day weekend which you can
learn more about in this edition. I am very eager to see how the
community will safely close out the summer while celebrating the best of
Caribbean culture. With threat of the Delta variant looming, I urge
everyone who has not taken the vaccine to please do so. We want to
ensure everyone has a wonderful end of summer and our best chance is to
trust the science of this vaccine. 
We
are feeling triumphant! The Summer Youth Employment program has been a
signature program for Sesame Flyers for over 20 years. In the last two
years of this program we have rapidly adjusted to the City’s response to
the pandemic while ensuring our young people’s meaningful employment
experience. Having just wrapped on another successful year, we want to
acknowledge the staff and our work sites who helped make this possible
as we navigated the program providing in person and virtual
opportunities for our youth. We feel confident that this summer
experience will be one that helps shape our young people into strong
adults contributing to the workforce and provides seeds of greatness
that will bear fruit for years to come.
