Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Chief Service Officer Laura Rog presented the honors as part of NYC Service’s annual Mayoral Service Recognition Program Tuesday night at Gracie Mansion, which drew a record 171 nominations this year and more than 3,500 public votes.
The Bronx was well-represented among the winners, scoring two awards — Partnership Impact Award and the Americorps Alum Award — out of five awards.
“Tonight’s awardees remind us what’s possible when we act with purpose and solidarity,” Mayor Mamdani said.
Part of the Solution (POTS) and Fordham Preparatory School earned the 2026 Partnership Impact Award by joining forces to deliver food and hygiene kits to Bronx families in need.
Fordham Prep students mobilized their community to raise $142,000 in food and donations for POTS, and assembled more than 600 hygiene kits for Bronx families through POTS’ Dignity & Wellness Program, which provides free showers, haircuts and access to medical and dental services.
“Last year, when we had the SNAP crisis, Fordham Prep stepped up,” said Angria Messam, Head of Volunteer and Partnerships at POTS, referring to a period when many Bronx residents struggled to access their food stamp benefits. “We had more clients coming to us for food because they weren’t able to access their SNAP benefits. Fordham Prep’s response through the Ignatian Challenge really helped during that time.”
The Great Ignatian Challenge, a food drive in which Fordham Prep competes against other Jesuit schools nationally, became the engine for the fundraising effort. Abby MacLean Pochiraju, Fordham Prep’s Director of Christian Service and Sustainability, said the school’s senior students led the charge, driven by more than just competitiveness.
“We’re a Catholic Jesuit school, so loving thy neighbor and serving others is a huge part of our mission,” she explained. “Our service program has existed for over 30 years. It culminates in a 70-hour senior service project, where students volunteer at a designated organization, oftentimes POTS and take a class alongside it to reflect on why civic engagement matters.”
For Messam, the award felt like a validation of what cross-sector partnership can accomplish. “Nonprofits can’t do it alone. There is more need than there are nonprofits addressing that need. By working together with community partners, we can have a much further reach.”
Pochiraju admitted she did not even realize they’d won until she got a call asking if she was free to come to Gracie Mansion. “It took me a minute. I was dumbfounded and shocked,” she laughed. “But really, it’s just a testament to our community and how we come together.”
A Fordham Preparatory Alumnus, Eric Ragone, who credited the school’s service program with shaping his career, was also honored at the ceremony. He received the AmeriCorps Alum Impact Award for his work expanding medically tailored meal delivery at “God’s Love We Deliver.”
“Fordham Prep is all about service,” Ragone said. “It ingrained something important about character and giving back.” Watching his former school receive an award on the same stage, he said, was an honor.
Also representing the Bronx was the Bronx Defenders, recognized as a grantee of NYC Service’s Civic Impact Fund. Aleciah Anthony, Director of Community Engagement, explained that a $5,000 grant helped the public defense organization formalize its volunteer program — moving from informal engagement to a structured pipeline that recruited over 30 young people on school-to-prison pipeline advocacy work, and more than 100 volunteers for community events including a neighborhood dinner and block party.
“It takes all of us to really build the Bronx,” Anthony said. “NYC Service has found ways to engage organizations who might not normally do service projects to really get in there and engage community.”
In an interview at the end of the evening, Chief Service Officer Rog congratulated the Bronx organizations for their show of solidarity and action. “It’s the power of when people come together to say, we just want to get something done. And they figure it out step by step, bit by bit, until they’re able to make these really large, long standing contributions.”
Carol Chen is a student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
