Tiempo: virtual college programs and Vita Coco helps struggling bodegas

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Summer academic program helps to prepare latino high school students for college

Joe Torres speaks with Katia Paz Goldfarb of the Hispanic Student College Institute.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- In this episode of Tiempo: Joe Torres speaks with guests Allison Finazzo from Vita Coco, Frank Marte, a bodega owner, and Katia Paz Goldfarb of the Hispanic Student College Institute.

First, the Hispanic Student College Institute is a free program that was created at Montclair State University in New Jersey to equip Latino high school students and their families with the tools they will need to apply for college successfully.

The program was founded several years ago and has now gone virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Co-Founder Katia Paz Goldfarb explains how the program is helping to reach even more students from the Tri-State and across the country.

(Segment 1 featured above)

Also, the "My Bodega Online" app teamed up with coconut water vendor "Vita Coco" in a campaign to help bodegas across New York City.

The partnership is designed to support bodegas across the five boroughs and includes a delivery service for healthcare workers.

When the city shut down several months ago, many bodegas stayed open, but sales dropped as much as 80% for some.

Allison Finazzo from Vita Coco and Frank Marte, the owner of a bodega in the Bronx, explains how the new campaign will benefit businesses.

Segment 2:

Joe Torres speaks with Katia Paz Goldfarb of the Hispanic Student College Institute.

Segment 3:

Joes Torres speaks with guests Allison Finazzo from Vita Coco, Frank Marte, a bodega owner.

Segment 4:

Joes Torres speaks with Allison Finazzo from Vita Coco, Frank Marte, a bodega owner.

WATCH EYEWITNESS TO A PANDEMIC (Episode 4)

It overwhelmed the health care industry, it put millions out of work, it drowned social services in an ocean of need and threatened the food supply Americans had long since taken for granted. At the apex of the crisis and for the weeks that followed, no part of life, or even what followed life, was spared.