Staten Island Chaplain Delivers Ashes to Essential Workers
By Bree Driscoll, Spectrum NY1 Staten Island
Holly Bonner wasn’t planning on anointing anyone with ashes on location for Ash Wednesday. The newly ordained Chaplin conducts most of her duties remotely since she is fighting bone cancer. But when an essential worker at Moretti Bakery asked, Bonner gloved up and obliged. “If anointing somebody with ashes that their insistence upon makes them feel better, I’m happy to do that, “Bonner said. “Very overwhelming,” said Cinzia Leon, describing how she felt receiving the ashes, “And we’re very appreciative to Holly and her family.”
Read the story and see the video clip on Spectrum NY1 News.
About MCNY Professor and Chaplain Holly Bonner
The unstoppable Holly Bonner is a 2008 MPA graduate of the Metropolitan College of New York School for Public Affairs and Administration and a 2002 BPS alumna and now, a professor in the MCNY School for Human Services and Education. She is smart, confident, and beautiful and has a huge personality that everyone finds endearing. Holly also holds a Masters of Social Work (MSW) from the prestigious Columbia University School of Social Work. She is a Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) in the State of New York as well as an Internationally Certified AlcoholSubstance Abuse Counselor (ICADC). Holly is a Human Services Board Certified Practitioner (HSBCP).
With over 15 years of experience working with at-risk youth in a variety of clinical and community
Holly Bonner with her beautiful service dog Frances
settings, her areas of expertise include anti-bullying education, addiction counseling, juvenile justice proceedings, domestic violence and veterans’ advocacy. Having become legally blind after battling breast cancer, Holly is a volunteer Peer Counselor for the American Federation for the Blind (AFB) and an advocate in the blind community educating others on disability rights and low vision awareness. She is a regularly featured writer for Vision Aware and Family Connect for the AFB and Perkins School for the Blind.
Holly Bonner has had an amazing journey from education to career. She is one of the MCNY alumnae featured in the book, The Power of Purpose: The Impact of Metropolitan College of New York on our City and Our Communities! (page 14)
