{"id":90971,"date":"2026-01-06T12:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90971\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:35:10","slug":"staten-island-nonprofit-founded-by-3-childhood-friends-focuses-on-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90971\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island nonprofit, founded by 3 childhood friends, focuses on giving back"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 With a name that embodies their spirit of giving, three childhood friends from Staten Island founded a non-profit called Beautiful Heartbeats Inc., which has been serving the community since 2021. <\/p>\n

The three women\u2014Shaquana Perry-Garcia, who serves as president, Miltonya DeJesus, who serves as vice president and Eboni Nichols, the creative director\u2014say their guiding principle is simple: \u201cAs a community we all stand in greatness as one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their organization, which focuses on supporting urban communities through mentorship opportunities, networking and life skills programs, aims to make a lasting impact on Staten Island. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur core mission is always unity within the community and supporting those who support us,\u201d said Perry-Garcia. <\/p>\n

\"BeautifulBeautiful Heartbeat members wearing shades of brown.Shaquana Perry-Garcia<\/p>\n

Since its birth, Beautiful Heartbeats has hosted a variety of initiatives, including business and career networking events and regular food and household giveaways. <\/p>\n

Additionally, the organization hosts community celebrations that range from annual Christmas and Easter celebrations to back-to-school events and women\u2019s empowerment programs. <\/p>\n

This organization has in recent years been honored by the office of State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and Councilmember Kamillah Hanks for their community service. <\/p>\n

\"AwardAward from The New York City Council for for their outstanding service and contributions to the community.Shaquana Perry-Gracia<\/p>\n

Perry-Garcia also owns 3J\u2019s Creation Event Space on Forest Avenue in Mariners Harbor; she said she works to leverage both to give back to the community, particularly by providing affordable access to a gathering space. <\/p>\n

Nearly 200 people attended the Christmas Winter Wonderland hosted by Beautiful Heartbeats at the 3J\u2019s Creation Event Space Dec. 21, an event that provided winter clothing, household essentials and musical instruments to local families.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always meaningful seeing the joy and excitement on the kids\u2019 faces when they receive giveaways,\u201d said Perry-Garcia. One moment that resonated deeply with her involved a young boy who won his first very own television, while his sister received a keyboard. <\/p>\n

\"SeveralSeveral gathered in 3J’s Creation Event Space to receive toys and household items.Nikisha Ortega<\/p>\n

According to Perry-Garcia the event was made possible through community support and volunteer participation.<\/p>\n

Perry-Garcia emphasizes the many who volunteer as well as collaborators. Organizations and businesses such as New Hope Church, St. George Theatre, Atlas Foundation and NCNW Staten Island Chapter have partnered with Beautiful Heartbeats. <\/p>\n

Recognition was given to the Young Women\u2019s Leadership School of Staten Island, an all-girls school whose students, teachers and principal have volunteered at multiple events. The school is considered a predominantly minority population and aligns with a mission centered on empowerment and community support. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 With a name that embodies their spirit of giving, three childhood friends from Staten…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-90971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}