IRVINGTON, NJ — When Seji Lusi and his partners at the Winning or Nothing T-shirt company on Springfield Avenue hosted the fifth annual W.O.N. Step Ahead Community Cookout and Back to School bash on Saturday, Aug. 26, in Union Avenue Park, the theme was “Giving back to our community that always has our Back.”
For Lusi, it was a family affair.
“We did our fifth annual W.O.N. Step Ahead book bag giveaway,” said volunteer Lawrence Pierre on Saturday, Aug. 26. “We fed over 300 people today. I cooked — I don’t know — 200 pounds of chicken and we did it all for the kids. I’m tired, we’re having a good time, we’re just cleaning up and it’s all about love and it’s all about the kids.”
Pierre was wearing a custom-made T-shirt with the words “We Lit” printed on the front, not referring to current slang meaning ”high energy,” but something else entirely.
“I’m Haitian. One thing about my culture, we all black and we know that food is something that brings people together. So the whole barbecue theme and what we do we’re just trying to bring our people together,” Pierre said. “I’m also a poet and author and we’re all about positivity — we’re all about reading. Hence, ‘We Lit’, because it’s all about our kids reading. We’re trying to bring that vibe back. … We Lit. We’re talking about books right here.”
Lusi’s mother, Victoria Lusi, said she is very proud of her son and his friends’ entrepreneurial and civic spirit. Seji’s brother is also an entrepreneur and local businessman who provided all the chairs for this year’s event.
“It’s good to be nice to kids, because they are or future, so we can take them away from the streets,” said Victoria Lusi on Saturday, Aug. 26. “So that is the main purpose and, again, the purpose, like he said, is to show love.”
Last year, Seji Lusi and his partners used the Community Cookout to highlight a new T-shirt design by one of his younger relatives. This year, they were hyping their newest employee, Makhi Hooker, who is 14 years old.
“He’s been out here since eight in the morning. He works at the store with us,” Seji Lusi said. “He’s a hard worker and he definitely proved himself today. He made over 50 custom T-shirts by himself and he’s only been doing it for a week; even less than a week. So we’re real proud of him, because that’s what we want to do — teach the youngsters how to do it.”
“As far as I know, artistic people run in my family. I’ve got poets and stuff in my family, so I’m feeling this now,” said Makhi on Saturday, Aug. 26. “We gave people what they wanted and made it 10 times better on the shirts. This was my first year and it turned out bigger than I expected. A lot of kids came here. The mayor came through. The mayor of Hillside as well.”
Members of the Irvington Police Department also contributed to making this year’s event a success.
“Shout out to Irvington police. We also want to appreciate Sgt. Lebron and his part of that camp, because they gave out book bags and also donated 100 book bags. That was something we didn’t expect. It was definitely a collective effort.”
“Winning or nothing — W.O.N. Step Ahead,” Seji Lusi said, adding “Failure is not an option. That’s what we’re about.”
Seji Lusi’s business partners and family echoed his sentiments.
“I’m just happy to be here and happy to give back to the people,” said Akbar Falbru on Saturday, Aug. 26. “Growth is wealth. We’re all about wealth, we’re all about growth. … Giving to the kids, so they can get to the next level.”
Jerry Black, who described himself as “one-third” of W.O.N. Step Ahead, said, “We’re all about growth and progress and progress is the purpose,” on Saturday, Aug. 26. “One thing I can say about that is we’re all for the community and the kids. We’re just trying to elevate man, that’s it. Stay loyal and stay educated, kids. Education is everything.”
About the Author
