Yorktown Resident Honored by Senator as Community Leader
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By Rick Pezzullo
Yorktown resident Jacqueline Baker was honored by State Senator Pete Harckham last week during a special virtual online ceremony in recognition of Black History Month.
Baker, founder of Westchester Sickle Cell Outreach, was presented with a Commendation Award for her leadership and commitment to bettering the community.
“Jacqueline Baker has done so much to help those with Sickle Cell Disease, and thanks to her advocacy I was able to help Westchester Medical Center procure equipment for life saving blood treatments,” Harckham said.
Baker is a retired elementary school teacher who taught for 35 years in Westchester County. She is the parent of two adult sons with Sickle Cell Disease and a grandmother to an eight-year-old who has the sickle cell trait. After more than 30 years of dealing with sickle cell treatment for her children, Baker founded the non-profit organization Westchester Sickle Cell Outreach in September 2021.
The organization provides various services to residents, including support groups, educational resources for holistic treatments, nutrition and cooking classes, yoga classes, meditation sessions and discussions with people who share the experience of living with Sickle Cell Disease.
In addition, Baker is an active member of the Peekskill NAACP who has advocated for local civic engagement through her involvement with the Peekskill Chapter of the Westchester Black Women Political Caucus. She was named an ambassador for the 2021 Support-a-Walk, the largest annual fundraiser for Support Connection, a Yorktown-based charity that provides confidential support services and programs to people affected by breast and ovarian cancer. Ambassadors are cancer survivors who represent the spirit and purpose of the Support-A-Walk.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
