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.
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