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www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 7 CITY VIEWS May 14, 2021 Indian Health Camp Of New Jersey Holds Vaccination Drives I ndian Health Camp of New Jersey – IHCNJ, a non- profit tax exempt organization held COVID-19 vac- cine drives at Balaji Temple in Bridgewater on May 1, 2021 and Swaminarayan Temple in South Brunswick on May 8, 2021, where about 100 people received vaccinations offered by Ritesh Shah of Legacy Pharmacy Group – Bayshore and Ramtown Pharmacy. In a May 10, 2021 press release, IHCNJ said that it is continuing to provide services in the community since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Both temple management and their volunteers provided their support and services in this unprecedented time of public health crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic which affected millions of Americans and when more than 580,000 people succumbed to the illness, IHCNJ said. South Brunswick Mayor Charles Carley, Deputy Mayor Joe Camarota, former Mayor of Montgomery Township Sadaf Jaffer and South Brunswick School Board Mem- ber Joyce Mehta were among the elected officials who attended the vaccine drive to extend their support to IHCNJ’s continued community health outreach efforts. A proclamation from South Brunswick Mayor and Council was presented during the vaccine drive on May 8, 2021. Ritesh Shah, owner of four independent pharmacies in Central Jersey and CEO of Legacy Pharmacy Group, a group purchasing organization for independent pharma- cies, was on hand from the day COVID-19 hit the U.S. in 2020, the press release noted. Shah and his team began setting up testing stations in their pharmacies and other locations in the communities. To date, Legacy Pharmacy Group have tested more than 250,000 people. And even before New Jersey pharmacists got access to vaccines, Shah had pre-registered nearly 100,000 indi- viduals for them, the press release said. “A long-time public health advocate, Shah has rela- tionships with NJ State Health Department officials and lawmakers and spends a good deal of his time educating them about the needs of his patients,” the IHCNJ said. In October 2020, Shah received a commendation from the Governor of New Jersey, a state Senator and the General Assembly for his efforts in helping educate the public, testing for COVID-19 and helping prevent the spread of the disease. “We are all in this together,” Shah is quoted saying in the press release. “As pharmacists, we must do all it takes to make our communities safer. It’s not only our respon- sibility, it’s an obligation,” Shah emphasized. Dr. Mona Mody, Dr. Prema Prasad, Asha Shah, Shirish Parekh, IHCNJ Vice President, Avani Patel and Peggy Rizzo of Ramtwon Pharmacy and Nelly Fuzaylov and Aleena Mehdi of Bayshore Pharmacy extended their services during the vaccine drive. IHCNJ has been serving communities by organizing many activities virtually to include online interviews on TV and radio and education via articles and social media platforms related to current topics of COVID-19, mental health and other chronic diseases education and awareness as part of their health promotion and disease prevention objectives, the organization said. In addition, IHCNJ also donated personal protec- tive equipment earlier in 2020 when there was severe shortage and scarcity at the local hospitals in New Jersey. Among the recipients were RobertWood Johnson Univer- sity Hospital in Somerset and Saint Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick. Indian Health Camp of New Jersey also provided free COVID-19 FDA authorized antibody testing to hundreds of people in collaboration with Hematology & Oncology Care, Helping Hearts Foundation and Durham Pharmacy. For more information call Dr. Tushar Patel at 848-391- 0499, e-mail tpatel434@yahoo.com or Ritesh Shah at 732- 766-0546 or e-mail ritesh1997@yahoo.com. By a StaffWriter Photo: IHCNJ Photo: IHCNJ Photo: IHCNJ Indian Health Camp of New Jersey hosted to vaccination drives. This is the photo from May 1, showing people participation in getting the vaccine. Dr. Tushar Patel, Ritesh Shah, Avani Patel, Peggy Rizzo, Joyce Mehta & Mayor Carley at the May 8, 2021 vaccine drive organized by Indian Health Camp of New Jersey event. From left, Ritesh Shah, Peggy Rizzo, Avani Patel and former Montgomery Mayor Sadaf Jaffer at the May 8, 2021 vaccine drive hosted by the Indian Health Camp of New Jersey. Founder and President of Asian American Labor and Community Orga- nization (AALCO), Mohan emigrated to the U.S. from Chennai, India in 1989. He has spent the last two decades in public service and community service serving the Staten Island community in various roles, and feels becoming the borough’s president is the next natural step for him. “At this point in my life, I want to give back to the community that helped me prosper. I am already involved in a lot of community service in several organiza- tions but I think there is more to do and much to offer. Becoming the borough president will grant me the budget for helping Staten Island and its residents,” said Mohan. He believes his extensive experience with public welfare organizations and politics, and involvement with the bor- ough residents sets him apart from the eight other candidates in the race. “I am a member of the Public Services Committee, Transportation Committee and Silver Lake Parks Committee,” said Mohan. According to his profile, Mohan has more than two decades of labor union experience. He was an interim regional coordinator for region 10 for the NYC chapter with more than 5000 members and past president (for 8 years) of Divi- sion 240 with more than 2000 statewide members. Currently, Mohan is an executive board member and chair of article 13 committee on workers compensation working to publish resource booklet for members hurt on the job. Mohan’s campaign revolves around solutions for immediate problems as well as long existing ones. Addressing the covid-19 situation head on; improving the Staten Island trans- portation infrastructure and operational facilities; providing literacy programs and vocational training to the youth and se- nior; and building more public hospitals are some of Mohan’s top priorities. “I also completed a course from NYC Citizens Police Academy and served as a block watcher for the community. I am also a member of the NYPD Staten Island Immigrant Outreach and Hate Crime Task Force. This current crisis of hate crimes needs to be addressed. We can only do this by being proactive,” said Mohan. Mohan has a Master’s degree in Economics, bachelor’s in Mathematics and Statistics, and an Associate degree in Computer Science. Mohan urged people to connect with his campaign if they share his views on giving back to the community. Indian-American From Staten Island In The Run For Borough President - Continued From Page 6

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