For Immediate Release- Queens, NY 9/16/21

The 11th annual Queens World Film Festival joins with blk. International. LLC, FilmFesivalFlix.com and others to present $8,000 from the proceeds of the sales of Hero Tickets and 6,000 bottles of the blk. functional beverage to the ‘Heroes of Elmhurst’ at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst -Monday September 20 @ 11am at the Broadway entrance of the hospital.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst’s Executive Director Helen Arteaga will welcome the attendees, including Queens Borough President Donavan Richards, City Council Member Danny Dromm, Assembly Woman Catalina Cruz, Queens filmmakers, community members and other special guests.

Dr. Melina B. Jampolis, Chief Nutrition Officer of blk. and author of the newly released Spice Up, Live Long: A guide to using herbs and spices to live a longer, healthier and more vibrant life will speak on behalf of blk. and Filmfestivalflix.com.

Every year the Queens World Film Festival honors a filmmaker or a community member with the “Spirit of Queens Award”. In 2021, the award was presented to the heroic staff of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst for putting themselves between the Covid 19 virus and the community.

Queens World 2021 chose to honor the NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst staff, pledging that all employees would be given a full-access pass via FilmFestivalFlix.com. FilmFestivalFlix.com and their leading platform sponsor, blk., stepped in to help guarantee the passes. Other community minded donors also stepped in to support the tickets including Benedict Realty Corporation, Resorts World NYC, Puckett Marketing, Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz +.

The Queens World Film Festival is a program of the Queens World Film Initiative, Inc., a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization and is made possible in part with funds from the Decentralization Program, a re-grant program at the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Both are administered by the Queens Council on the Arts. Additional funding was provided through Discretionary Funding provided by Council Member Daniel Dromm and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and administered by the Department of Youth and Community Development.