Members of the Unknown Riders motorcycle club are in fact very well known to the patients and staff at The Brooklyn Hospital Center’s Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Adult Oncology Departments. The club has donated more than $8,000 in supplies and equipment for the ward’s family waiting room.

The philanthropic effort began when biker member Roberto Valentin, whose daughter Alexis was diagnosed and treated for lymphoma five years ago, realized that the hospital needed funds to help create a haven for children undergoing treatment.

“In 2009 some of my bike brothers decided to make a party for my daughter to generate money to help her out,” said Mr. Valentin. “And I started thinking about other children. I started the fundraiser for all the kids in the hospital to take a little bit of burden off their shoulder, trying to get some treats or drinks for the kids just to help them out.”

Staff at the hospital, like Dr. Swayam Sandanadan, who treated Alexis, see the bikers as big people with big hearts, rejecting the common stereotype of bikers as violent gangs.

Many clubs like the Dirty Riderz are dedicating time and effort toward community service. From participating in fundraisers like Relay for Life, to helping local police precincts in campaigns to get guns off the streets, thousands of bikers around the city are doing what they can to lend a helping hand.

Avodah residents gathered for a house meeting in May.

In an unassuming three-story building on a Classon Avenue corner, a handful of young men and women gathered in a living room for a house meeting. Some put the finishing touches on dinner; others reclined on couches, chatted about jobs and debated weekend plans. Some relaxed in athletic shorts and over-sized shirts. Others appeared to have come straight from work. Like many young people new to the city, most were recent college graduates, hailing from all over the country and now living in uncomfortably close quarters.

Though the crowded house has been mistaken for a youth hostel, these roommates are participants in a Jewish service program. They live in the house for one year and work at non-profit organizations. It is the New York City home of Avodah, an organization that draws a connection between religion and social justice. It’s also an introduction to living in the city.

Avodah is like “a halfway house to being a real person,” said Rae Draizen, 22, an enthusiastic self-described “summer camp Jew” from Oakland, Calif. Ms. Draizen moved to New York after she graduated from Washington University. So did some of her college friends. But while her friends’ evenings were devoted to bar-hopping, Ms. Draizen worked long hours at an Achievement First charter school.

Other Avodah house members work at homeless advocacy organizations, neighborhood mediation centers, schools and alternative-to-incarceration courts. To participate in the program, organizations must focus on fighting poverty and offer a real position to the residents, not an internship or a job as an assistant.

Avodah launched in New York in 1998, and has since expanded to Chicago, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. The Clinton Hill building opened in 2009. This year it housed 18 participates, none older than 26. The placement organizations provide a monthly MetroCard and a stipend, and Avodah subsidizes the housing, though the participants still pay rent. There are six houses in four cities, with about 55 residents this year and about 60 coming in next year.
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Oswaldo Cabrera A cool, gray Tuesday calls for a picture of London the dog.

Happy Tuesday, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Today’s weather is a continued respite from last week’s slam of summer heat. It looks fair, but potentially soggy, so grab those umbrellas before you head out.

There are plenty of things to do, despite the gray day:

The last meeting of the year for the CB2 Transportation and Public Safety Committee is tonight at 6 p.m. You’ll find it at St. Francis College on 180 Remsen Street in the First Floor Board Room. Update | 10:12 a.m. The meeting is actually next week, on June 21.

Today is your last chance to catch “I am Cuban”, a selection of photographs by Helena de Bragança, presented by BAMart and the ¡Sí Cuba! Festival. The photos depict Cuban residents from all over the island between 2007 and 2009. The free exhibit is open in the Leonard Natman Room at the Peter Jay Sharp Building on 30 Lafayette Ave from noon to 11 p.m.

This evening at Greenlight Bookstore, toast to the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Visit From The Goon Squad”, Jennifer Egan. City Councilwoman Letitia James is honoring the award winning Fort Greene author at tonight at 5:30 p.m. at MoCADA (RSVP required). Following the ceremony at 6:30 p.m., Greenlight is hosting a champagne toast and after-party where the author will be signing books.

Looking for inexpensive ways to keep your kids active, or just trying to tire them out? Check out this list of neighborhood deals from yoga to handball. Do you know about other affordable activities that wear your little ones out for naptime? Tell us in the comments!

Celia GormanKelsey and The Soulfolk Experience covered Michael Jackson.

Community activists championed change on Saturday night at Five Spot. BK Nation hosted a panel, local DJ Misbehaviour spun and The Soulfolk Experience and guest vocalists paid tribute to Michael Jackson.

The Brooklyn networking event was designed to build community. Panel moderator Liza Featherstone asked, “What can we do?”

The No. 1 answer from panelists? Get involved.

- Get to know your neighbors, said Miriam Sirota, a Bedford Stuyvesant real estate broker.

- Pay attention to large scale policy issues, like public housing, as they can have a big impact on a local level, said Valery Jean, Executive Director of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, or FUREE.

- Teach your neighbors and especially your children, said Maisha Morales, a local small business owner.

- Be aware of the difference between racism and classism, which is a greater problem now, said filmmaker Michael Galinsky, whose documentary “Battle for Brookyn” premiered last week.

- Understand education so that you can fight against budget cuts, said Eben Wood, a professor at the City University of New York’s Kingsborough Community College.

Visit The Local’s Facebook page for photos of the event!

Sabrina Iyadede

Sabrina Iyadede, a model, musician and jewelry maker, moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant three years ago. The Rwandan-born 23-year-old lives close to the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, and was attracted to the neighborhood because of its sense of culture. As a professional singer, she draws upon a range of genres, from jazz to electronic to world music.

Ms. Iyadede said that she is continually inspired the many cultures she encounters around her neighborhood and finds simple aspects of Brooklyn life mesmerizing.

You were born in Rwanda, but left the country in 1994, before the Hutu and Tutsi conflict broke out. What was that like?
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Deirdre O’Connell O’Keeffe

Thanks to everyone who participated in this weekend’s photo call!

Here’s our favorite: an adorable photo of two tots “taking a stroll on Saturday in Clinton Hill” from Deirdre O’Connell O’Keeffe. Thanks!

It’s not too late to add your photos: upload them to our Facebook page and we’ll add them to the gallery.

Broken electrical cables caused the blackout of street lamps in Fort Greene Park, a spokesperson from the Department of Transportation told The Local.

The Local first reported that the lights were out, and then that it looked like they were being fixed, but the DOT wasn’t able to explain why the lights went dark.

Now, the DOT provided an update on the cause. It’s an electrical issue, a spokesperson said.

While the DOT governs all street lamps in the city, outside contractors are responsible for individual lights. The contractor that manages the lamps in Fort Greene Park will replace the broken cables, the DOT spokesperson said in an email. These repairs should be finished early next week, but bad weather or rain could interfere and lengthen the process, the spokesperson said.

If the repairs turn out to be more complicated, it could also take longer, the spokesperson said.

Photo Call: Post photos of broken lights, repair trucks or lights that work to our Facebook page or tweet them @BKLocal. Or, just let us know the location of lights that are still off.

Francisco Daum The hot summer sun sets last week, during the first heat wave of the year.

Good morning, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Although we had some rain this weekend, the weather turned out to be much more seasonable than last week’s heat wave. We spotted this photo of blue skies from the top of Fort Greene Park, on @lukemill’s twitter feed, showing some puffy clouds and part of Manhattan’s skyline.

In park music news, we got word last week that Mos Def, a critically acclaimed actor and rapper, is headlining the third annual Fort Greene Fest. Brooklynites Toure and Rosie Perez will also be on hand to host the festival, the Nonstop Sound blog reported.

If you’d like to help improve a corner of park, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy is looking for volunteers to help out in its Revolutionary War garden on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. If you’re interested in getting your hands dirty, e-mail garden manager and conservancy board member Daly Clement at Daly@fortgreenepark.

This week the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will welcome 11 artists to store-front windows on the avenue, between Clinton and Classon Avenues. The seventh annual Myrtle Windows Gallery exhibition, titled Dots and Dashes, will explore patterns found in nature and man-made structures, Myrtle Minutes reported.

Lastly, we caught this snapshot of a fallen tree on the photo blog, A Little London Brown for you. Was this the only tree that fell in the area? Was this your car? Let us know if you heard how it happened, locals.

Earlier this week we saw the amazing dance video above, showing a 9-year-old boy lip-syncing and dancing to Madonna’s classic dance hit, “Vogue.” In the background is a view of lower Manhattan that many Brooklynites know well.

If you had the chance to lip-sync a song in front of the backdrop of your choice, what song would you pick and what would you sing in front of?

It’s Internet Week New York and The Local is putting out a photo call to celebrate, with a new twist: cell phones. This weekend we invite you to take a snap shot with your phone and share it with us via social media.

Planning on some fun in the park or a delicious brunch? Heading out for some fun tonight?

Flip out your phone and capture a moment. Then post it to our Facebook page. Or tweet us @BKLocal #bklPhoto. We’ll re-tweet the photos and collect them for a gallery. See your fellow locals’ photos on our page or twitter stream — live. Then, on Monday, we’ll post the best of The Best Weekend shots!

Have a great weekend Fort Greene and Clinton Hill! Don’t forget to share it!