Barnes & Noble Taps Lexington Center for the Deaf to Recruit Holiday Help
12/16/2011 10:43:20 AM
For Immediate Release
Barnes & Noble Taps
Lexington Center
for the Deaf to Recruit Holiday Help
JACKSON HEIGHTS, NY –
[December 7, 2011] – Clients of the Lexington Vocational Services
Center for the Deaf who are seeking to hone their skills in customer
relations and build work experience have been recruited to provide free gift wrapping
services for Barnes & Noble customers.
In exchange, they will have the opportunity to raise funds to benefit services
for deaf workers.
With the assistance of a job coach and American Sign
Language (ASL) interpreter provided by Lexington,
two deaf volunteer workers will help Barnes & Noble Booksellers, located in
the Bay Terrace Shopping Center
on Bell Boulevard
in Bayside, to provide free gift wrapping on Wednesday, December 7 and Wednesday,
December 14 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. Although there is no charge for this service, donations to help
support Lexington’s
vocational programs will be appreciated.
"The Barnes &Noble Holiday Gift Wrap program is an
excellent way for Lexington
to create awareness of its programs and services, while helping us out during
the hectic holiday season. We are very excited to work with them and hope to
continue this collaboration in the future,” said Anna Avalone, Barnes &
Noble’s store manager.
"Our clients are interested in gaining valuable work
experience and proving their abilities in the workplace, even if they are not
getting paid,” said Adele I. Agin, LSCW, Executive Director of Lexington
Vocational Services. "We encourage other
businesses to follow Barnes & Noble’s example in giving people who are deaf
or hearing impaired the opportunity to gain valuable work experience that can help
them find jobs.”
Lexington Vocational Services Center is an affiliate of the Lexington School & Center for the
Deaf. Lexington
places hundreds of deaf workers in jobs throughout the metropolitan area,
providing a full range of training and on-the-job support, including American
Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and liaison with employers. Engaging companies
to hire deaf workers and enabling them to integrate deaf employees into the
workplace is a key focus of Lexington’s
programs. Approximately 340 companies in New
York City and surrounding areas employ deaf workers trained and
placed by Lexington.
Employers wishing
for more information about Lexington Vocational Services Center may contact Adele Agin at (718) 350-3110 or aagin@lexnyc.org.