STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One year after Cesar Vargas and Yesenia Mata completed a nearly-20-mile run that spanned from the North to South Shores of Staten Island, the pair again accomplished a cross-Island trek in support of essential workers.
Vargas, a candidate for borough president, and Mata, the executive director of La Colmena, began the run at Reformed Church on Staten Island, which recently honored the Island’s veterans with banners hung along Port Richmond Avenue. Vargas and Mata, both members of the United States Army Reserve, were among the veterans honored on the Port Richmond Street.
From there, the pair made their way down to Conference House Park and made a number of stops along the way to refuel and account for the intense heat that was present on the Island Sunday.
“Last year we did it with rain, but [this year] the heat was a little bit intense,” said Vargas during a phone interview Sunday evening. “We were fortunate we had a nurse with us. She kept us hydrated.”
The 2020 run garnered more than $1,500 that was used to buy meals from local restaurants to distribute to frontline workers. Vargas and Mata have a similar goal this year and say there is an even more pronounced need to highlight the efforts of essential workers as the city reels back from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
While there was open support for these members of the workforce last year, Vargas and Mata said that they feel essential workers are now being “forgotten.”
“We wanted to continue this and remind that essential workers should still be thanked,” said Vargas, “but also we should still be highlighting the struggle that they’re all facing.”
Sunday’s run, which was just over 14 miles, was met with over-90-degree heat that Mata said gave her some struggles throughout.
Hina Naveed, a North Shore resident and a registered nurse, was keeping a close eye on both runners — checking pulses and providing drinks and food to ensure the fundraiser continued smoothly.
“It showed why we need to continue supporting the essential workers, the nurses,” said Mata. “Had it not been for her, I don’t know if I would have been able to finish this run.”
Even so, their hours-long battle to complete the run, both Vargas and Mata said, only showed a glimpse of the struggles essential workers have faced over the past 15 months to trudge through the pandemic.
Throughout the summer and winter of last year, Vargas said delivery workers, kitchen staff and others worked through extreme weather to keep the city running.
Essential workers were also at a higher risk for coronavirus exposure throughout the pandemic, health authorities have said, and are disproportionately representative of racial and ethnic minority groups. Nationwide, Black and Latino communities have bore the brunt of the outbreak — a trend reflected across the five boroughs.
“What the pandemic showed us was the discrepancies within the support given to workers,” said Mata. “It really highlighted how many of the times workers are neglected, as well as immigrant workers.”
With the city now beginning to open up, Mata said it is largely due to essential workers who should be given adequate support to get back on their feet.
“This is why we did this run,” she said. “Don’t forget the essential worker ... even though the city is opening up now, they are going to be rebuilding the city, they are going to make sure that it’s built to the point that we can go back to a normal place.”
The Link LonkMay 24, 2021 at 07:14AM
https://www.silive.com/news/2021/05/dont-forget-the-essential-worker-2nd-annual-cross-island-run-to-raise-funds.html
‘Don’t forget the essential worker:’ 2nd annual cross-Island run to raise funds - SILive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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