Fresh Meadows Nonprofits and Charities

I first met COS’s Executive Director, Yeou-Cheng Ma, when she and her brother, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, were at Harvard University, both of them students of my father, composer Leon Kirchner. Life-long friendships were formed from those early days, all of us young at the same time. Yeou-Cheng was an example of a phenomenon among students who were accomplished practitioners of music and science. She has since enjoyed a successful career as a pediatrician, as an active chamber musician performing in concert on piano, violin and viola, and as a treasured teacher and mentor to a generation of students in music. As executive director of the COS, founded by her formidable father, Dr. H. T. Ma, in 1961,Yeou-Cheng Ma has enhanced the lives of countless children and young adults gifted in music. For many years now, she has shared her vision for COS with her husband, Michael Dadap, an accomplished composer, educator, and classical guitarist who co-leads as Artistic & Music Director of COS.<br>COS presents excellent performances by gifted musicians who celebrate decades of commitment and a multi-generational network of former and current students, teachers, and mentors. Together they perform diverse programs of orchestral works and some choral and chamber music. Introductions and stories shared in performance generate warmth, and a visceral positivity permeates audiences filled with family, friends, community and the broader swath of music lovers in attendance at each concert. COS has provided gifted young musicians the treasured experience of full immersion in music by means of private lessons, master classes, studies in music theory, musicianship, orchestral, chamber and solo playing, mentorship, career guidance, and opportunities worldwide for concert performances in major venues. It has produced several decades of eminent musicians performing internationally. Students who may not have had access to this kind of training or guidance are supported by COS and its grants. These opportunities endow a life that endows other lives and provide an example of what such an organization can accomplish with the funds to implement its vision as its reputation grows and visibility in major halls increases around the globe.<br><br><br><br><br>

SaintSpiro Cat Rescue is a dedicated rescue for all feral cats and strays. They are well-informed on how to save, heal and socialize cats. I have learned so much about helping suffering cats through them. They have always been the rescue that does not give up on a cat when other rescue groups would tell me to put them to sleep. They do their very best to save a life. That's the mission for them. They mean it! That’s what set’s them apart from the rest. They do not give up! They care for ferals as cats that deserve the same fight as a friendly. They have so much on their plate and do their best to serve each cat with the best care, no matter the cost or time. I’m so grateful to them and forever will be. They always go above and beyond. I have volunteered for SaintSpiro Cat Rescue and have worked closely with them. I had no idea how much more work they put in daily! They wake up early to feed their cats indoors, outdoors, and in colonies, then go and medicate their sick and injured cats, kittens, mama, ferals, and traumatized cats in their care, and still answer calls to Rescue. It’s overwhelming work, but somehow they are persevering and saving one more. SaintSpiro Cat Rescue are the angels on earth because so many babies are happy and healthy, living their best furever lives, including the cats I own. Please help them. Help the voiceless. They are out there every day doing heart-wrenching work.

hello, hands saving paws is a labor of love, Terry, is an unrelenting force in helping our furry little friends, she feeds untold numbers of stray cats who would otherwise die outside without her caring help, the amount of personal money she spends on veterinary care for the sick homeless animals is unbelievable, she needs help caring for the 70 plus animals in her shelter, donations are desperately needed, any help would be enormously helpful, i have a wonderful cat that she rescued, i have spent countless hours helping her feed, and trap these poor animals, won't you please help Terry in any way you can, whether it is a donation, or general help cleaning and feeding these cats, thank you for reading this, DARREL G.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A mullah who raped a 10-year-old girl in his mosque was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a dramatic trial here in Kabul on Saturday during which his accuser, weeping and shaking, summoned the courage to confront him. <br> <br>Women’s activists attending the packed proceedings hailed the sentence as a victory because the mullah was successfully prosecuted under a 2009 law meant to fight violence against women in a country where rape had long been treated as adultery, implicitly placing partial blame on the victim. The judge in this case dismissed the mullah’s Shariah law defense. <br> <br>In addition, intervention by Women for Afghan Women, a group that had earlier sheltered the girl, persuaded the victim’s family members to support her. The group paid her family’s travel expenses from their home in the remote province of Kunduz, where the crime occurred, so they could attend the trial.