You are reading

Winners of Halloween Photo Contest Announced, One Family Donates Prize Money to Sunnyside Food Pantry

Luca DiCiero (founder of NY Space Finders), Halina Nix, Sofia Moncayo, Nathaniel Nix, Christian Murray and Caleb Andres by Mosaic Community Center Monday

Nov. 17, 2020 Staff Report

The winners of the Queens Post Halloween photo contest were awarded their prizes Monday.

Halina Nix, 6, and her brother Nathaniel, 10, were voted as having the best costumes. The pair were awarded $250, with Halina winning for her costume as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Nathaniel for being disinfectant wipes.

The pair competed in the Queens Post Instagram contest held last month where they along with dozens of other contestants uploaded their photos to Instagram. Their photos that generated the most “likes” were deemed the winners.

The contest included a prize for the best costume and the spookiest house.

The $250 prize was donated by the Nix family to the Mosaic Community Center food pantry at 46-01 43rd Ave. in Sunnyside, which provides groceries to about 1,500 people per week.

The children’s parents– Michelle Lee Nix and Charles Nix of Sunnyside– handed over the funds to Sofia Moncayo, co-founder of the food pantry, on Monday night.

The children won praise from Moncayo for their generosity.

“These funds will help all these people,” Moncayo said to the Nix children, while scores of people were in line for groceries. “What you are doing will make a real difference.”

The award was made possible through the sponsorship of NY Space Finders, an Astoria based real estate firm. Luca DiCiero, the founder of the firm, complimented the children for giving the funds to people in need.

Michelle Nix said the competition was fun and that it was good for her children to be involved with the food pantry.

“It was good for the children to see how hard Sofia and the Mosaic Community Center works to get food for so many families in Queens,” Nix said.

First prize for the spookiest house was $500 and awarded to Sunnyside residents Aileen Mahmoodi and John Maya. The pair both have an arts background and said that they really enjoyed the contest and decorating their home.

Mahmoodi was joined by her sons Royce Mena, 5, and Cassius Mena, 3, when she received the prize.

Her house generated 300-plus likes and took on the theme of remote learning.

Luca DiCiero of NY Space Finders hands Aileen Mahmoodi (red baseball hat) and her two sons Cassius Mena, 3, and Royce Mena, 5, the $500 award.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Holden calls out Mayor Adams—will he reopen ICE office on Rikers Island and tackle migrant crime?

One day after Mayor Eric Adams expressed his willingness to collaborate with the incoming Trump administration on addressing the migrant crisis and signaled a readiness to meet with former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) head Tom Homan, Council Member Robert Holden called on the mayor to reopen the ICE office on Rikers Island.

Holden, who represents District 30 in Queens, which encompasses Maspeth, Middle Village, and parts of Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, and Rego Park, has been advocating for changes to the city’s sanctuary policies since July. In a letter, he previously urged the mayor to roll back laws that restrict local law enforcement agencies—including the NYPD, Department of Correction, and Department of Probation—from cooperating with ICE.