The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

community service

Celebrating Service Above Self: A Look Back at the 2023 Awards at the Rotary Club of Chappaqua Charter Night

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The Rotary Club of Chappaqua held its annual Charter Night on Wednesday May 3 at Crabtree’s Kittle House. Attendees enjoyed a delicious dinner and an awards ceremony highlighting the accomplishments of our four wonderful honorees. The Rotary motto is “Service Above Self”, and this sentiment extends to every member, in every town. The Rotary Club of Chappaqua has been proud to carry that banner for 40 years, with many community service projects including our annual New Castle Community Day, as well as Pancake Breakfasts, Drive In Movie Night, Day of Service, and Charter Night. 

 

Charter Night is an important event, as we honor both a Rotarian and a Community Member for their acts of service. In addition, we also recognize one or more local high school students for their community involvement, providing them with a scholarship. Each of this year’s honorees were given special certificates of recognition from the Rotary Club, as well as our State Assemblyman Chris Burdick, and by Michael Weinberg on behalf of our State Senator Pete Harckham. 

 

The 2023 Community Honoree is Dawn Greenberg, the founder and Executive Director of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. Dawn has long been involved in working for our community, including co-founding the organization which became 914 Cares, along with many other endeavors. The CCBF, now entering its tenth year, has grown to become the largest children’s book festival on the East Coast, and continues to get bigger and better each year. One key aspect of CCBF is the fact that they donate a significant number of books to schools, libraries and other deserving recipients as well. As Assemblyman Burdick said, “Dawn is truly a pillar of the community, and that’s a phrase I use very judiciously”. 

We are also honoring Rotarian Marlene Canapi as our 2023 Paul Harris Fellowship Award Winner. The Paul Harris Fellowship award is the highest honour the Rotary Club can bestow upon a person, and represents a combination of fellowship and extraordinary service to the community. Marlene is the Immediate Past President of our local Rotary Club, and led the Club through the throes of the Pandemic, when meeting in person–a core tenet of our commitment to fellowship–was all but impossible. Her extraordinary commitment and work ethic helped keep Chappaqua’s Rotary Club alive. Outside of Rotary, Marlene is the Executive Director for ARC Stages, in Pleasantville. ARC Stages is a community based arts organization and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Marlene was unable to attend the ceremony due to international travel, but will be formally recognized at an upcoming Rotary meeting.

 

Last but certainly not least, this year we are proud to honor the exceptional achievements and community service of two local high school students, who will each receive a Scholarship from the Rotary Club of Chappaqua. Our recipients are Nathan Dang, and Netra Easwaran, both seniors at Horace Greeley High School. Nathan is a 4.0 student who will be attending Cornell University in the fall, but closer to home, he helped organize the first TedxYouth talks at Greeley, volunteers at the Mt. Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, works as an English teacher for students in Vietnam, as well as working as a kids’ gymnastics coach at World Cup. 

 

Netra is also an exceptional student, who will be attending Yale in the fall. She has served as a student panelist on the CCSD Hiring Panel, a student speaker of TruthSquad, and has served our local, county and state communities by interning in the offices of Senator Pete Harckham, County Executive George Latimer, and US Senator Chuck Schumer. Netra also serves as a volunteer on the White Plains Community Youth Court, which provides alternative adjudication for youth misdemeanors, and as the Head of Tutoring Services at Youth4Better, a 51(c)(3). 

 

Both Netra and Nathan related some of their experiences as students and as volunteers. Nathan’s story was touching as he relayed how personal his community service efforts are, as someone who immigrated to the US as a young child. Netra was eloquent and polished as she spoke of the depth of meaning she felt when working with the youth courts.  

 

It was a truly beautiful evening, filled with gratitude and celebration. Please join us in congratulating each of these extraordinary individuals and thanking them

for their service to our community! 

 

The Rotary Club might just be the quietest multi-billion-dollar organization you’ve never heard of, it is made up of remarkable people doing remarkable things in communities all over the world. Rotary International has over 1.4 million members worldwide in nearly 50,000 individual clubs. The Rotary Foundation has over $27B assets under management, funded entirely by its membership, and every year thousands of service projects are completed. Nevertheless, since many people aren’t very familiar with the organization, we cordially invite you to learn more about Rotary of Chappaqua and consider joining us at an upcoming meeting. More information can be found at rotaryofchappaqua.com. We hope to see you soon! 

 

Editor’s Note: This story and several of the photos were submitted by Cynthia Schames on behalf of the Rotary Club of Chappaqua.

 

 

 

 

Westchester Youth Alliance: Fostering Connection Among Youth & the Community

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Building bridges. Creating diverse communities. The youth in Westchester are coming together to learn about themselves while creating the world they want to live in. “We’re looking to help kids as they graduate high school to have a bigger world view when they enter college or the workforce, so when they move into a community and meet someone from a different background they can have a positive knowledge base to draw on and interact in a respectful and compassionate manner,” said Nisa Geller, Executive Director of the Westchester Youth Alliance (WYA).

Established in 2012, WYA connects high school students from diverse communities of faith, race, and identity and engages them in conversation, mobilizes them in community service, and empowers them to create a better, culturally informed world. “We feel it’s important for teenagers to have civil conversations with people who are different from them – different towns, different socio-economic backgrounds, different racial and religious backgrounds – and to have empathy and compassion for them,” said Geller. “This allows students to make friendships outside of their community. We facilitate the conversations using ice breakers and a curriculum that’s designed to break down stereotypes and stigma.”

For Monday Lerner, a sophomore at Scarsdale High School, spending time with the WYA is the best part of the week. “The community and social justice work we do inspires me to be a better person and think more about my community every day,” said Lerner. “The community of people I’ve met in WYA has been a lifeboat in the rough sea of high school and I’m grateful for their support.”

WYA’s THREE PILLARS

WYA has served 425 teens from 28 Westchester high schools and over 25 religious institutions and is growing in Southern Westchester. WYA’s curriculum of programming includes community service, educational opportunities, social justice activities, and recreational events, all based on three pillars: Nurturing Voice (active listening and respectful disagreement); Building Community (designing a better future); and Taking Action (working collaboratively to be agents of change). “We also teach these pillars so when students leave they feel they know who they are, how to get along with other people, and they’re a clear communicator in getting their message across in a civil and respectful way,” explained Geller.

The teens learn with and from each other through productive dialogue and engaging events and activities that include service projects, art projects, and regular gatherings to connect, reflect, and plan. Also, WYA organizes a variety of large-scale events, focused experiences, and guided discussions based on themes determined by teen members. Events are open to all teens at no cost. Recent issues of importance include mental health, food insecurity, gun violence, and climate change.

Emiliana Knauer, a senior at The Harvey School in Katonah, describes her time at WYA as a phenomenal experience. “While I may have initially joined the group as someone very hesitant to assume leadership positions due to lack of self-confidence, I’ll be leaving with the experiences of displaying a photography project at the Bedford Playhouse, working a booth at the Yorktown Pride Festival, speaking at a fundraising event, and even starting my school’s first feminist club,” she said. “I have so many fun and meaningful memories associated with WYA, and I’m incredibly grateful I had the chance to be part of the organization.”

WYA partners with a variety of not-for-profit organizations to offer hands-on community-service events. Students have cooked meals to feed the homeless, sorted toys for Toys for Tots, harvested vegetables at Hanover Hilltop Farm, and built affordable housing for low-income families. Throughout summer, members attend local events to share the WYA mission.

“We want students to be agents of change in their community,” said Geller. “We want them to realize they see a problem in their community they can take action on it, or if they see a need in their community, they can help make things better.”

Michelle Jones, a senior at White Plains High School, shares how the nonprofit has provided her with opportunities to collaborate with her peers and help the community. “I’ve learned to manage my time better and assume more responsibilities,” said Jones. “My first encounter with WYA was at a gardening event. I was quickly accepted into the group and felt like I belonged. WYA is a great place to find friends all the while bettering your community.”

That’s the goal of WYA. “We want to expand the students’ possibilities and network of people,” said Geller. “It’s very exciting for the teens and for the organizations that we help as well.”

Upcoming Events at the WYO

May 7 – Planting day at Hilltop Hanover Farm, Yorktown Heights

Students will be helping the farmers in the fields, weeding, picking (and sampling) fresh produce, making signage, pruning, and more. Experienced kids, passionate about plant care, will help care for more delicate plants.

June 11 – Yorktown For Justice: Pride 2023 Festival

All students welcome! Gather for the march and from 3-6 p.m. enjoy performances, speakers, vendors, food trucks, and activities.

June 18 – 12th annual Juneteenth Celebration at Depew Park, Peekskill

Juneteenth Tabling with the City of Peekskill’s Youth Bureau Celebrate the day as local performers are joined by youth groups who will will proudly strut their talents throughout the afternoon.

TBA – September – Bonfire Open House kick-off for the 2024 season at Pound Ridge Reservation

Register at westchesteryouthalliance.org

Service to the Community

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Tuan Anh Dang, here with his mom Huong Giang Nguyen at Crabtree’s Kittle House shortly before receiving the Rotary’s Student Community Service Award and a Rotary Scholarship.  Photo by Grace Bennett/Inside Press

My first American role model was ‘Eric’–I met him when I was just 10 and he was a lanky 19-year-old studying at UCSB. Though he might be glossed over by some as just another college student, to my English as a Second Language (ESL) classmates and me, he became our guide to the outside world. Despite not having a single language in common (Spanish, Chinese, German, Vietnamese) among ourselves, Eric still somehow managed to teach us all English. Through Apples to Apples, he gave us a basic vocabulary (and uncontrollable laughter–the universal language) that we could build upon. While trying to help us integrate into the broader community, he created one right within that class. Even after the course ended, people in that class remained some of my closest friends after elementary school and throughout middle school. We kept in contact even after some of us had to return to our home countries.

I am not sure if Eric knew that he had just fostered a dozen children and made us all feel at home in this foreign country for the first time. Inspired by Eric, I strive to pay the favor forward to other immigrant children by teaching ESL classes at Neighbors Link. In their confused eyes, I see my younger self who was equally perplexed by this odd world. Unable to communicate, there is no doubt that these children are feeling alone amongst their peers, just as I did. 

Whenever I see this uncertain look in their eyes, it just drives me harder to help these children feel like a part of the community–not apart from it. Of all the children I tutor, eight-year-old Angel is the most difficult; yet he is the person I look forward to seeing every day. When he hurls books in frustration, I gently remind him, “These are the same words I once struggled with.” I want Angel to know that I will struggle through these words again for him.

In my sophomore year, as the Westchester County representative to Youth to Youth International, a youth leadership training camp, I learned leadership skills required to organize a community-based drug prevention program that focuses primarily on middle school and high school students. I met remarkable people with incredible stories of resilience as they fought their addictions to become coalition leaders. A common thread connecting their stories is the importance of communities in overcoming these substances, whether faith-based or a group of users struggling together. My peer leaders showed me the optimism and dedication it took to maintain a community in which everyone needed to believe the goal is achievable. This belief proved to be essential during a summer internship at our local New Castle United for Youth where I organized events with the goal of creating a support network that extends to all those who seek help in our town. 

Through high school, I learned how to be someone my brother can confide to about his mental health; how to be a teacher who the children in my English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class can expect to not give up on them, even during the most difficult readings; and how to be a non-judgmental friend who can be turned to for advice with substance-problems. 

Through these experiences, I can say that trust is not a ‘thing,’ but an action. It is a vulnerable act of giving something one values, knowing that person will take good care of it like they always had. It is the highest honor someone can be given by their loved ones–no wonder my grandma emphasized its importance so much. Trust is not a one-way street. Just like how my parents, brother, students, and peers rely on me, I am sure that they will be there when I need them. Most importantly, I can trust myself to be trusted.

“Kə’myōōnədē”, the word that would not roll off my tongue when I first came to America has now become my favorite. Whether it is in school or in town, I look for communities everywhere. After all, they are what hold us together. 

Editor’s Note: Dang was honored on June 30th at Crabtree’s Kittle House with the Chappaqua Rotary Club’s Student Community Service Award; in addition, two-term Rotary president Eileen Gallagher–who received the Paul Harris service award the same day–presented Dang with a $1000 scholarship from the Rotary for his outstanding achievement and dedication to ‘Service above Self’.

Chappaqua Rotary’s 2020 Student Community Service Awards

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Two exemplary Greeley students, Angelina Brunetto and Quinn Singer, were honored this summer at Crabtree’s Kittle House during the annual Chappaqua Rotary Club’s 2020 Student Community Service Awards.

Vedat Gashi, County Legislator representing District 4 and New Castle Town Board Member Lisa Katz each respectively presented the students with both accolades and certificates to recognize their service.

Angelina Brunetto volunteers extensively at the Veterans Hospital in Montrose she stated, “to gain experience in the healthcare industry while giving back to our heroes… Assisting in different departments, I interact with the veterans, and gain firsthand knowledge of the bravery and sacrifice they experienced while in Service and Active Duty… Through my volunteer work, I have grown more compassionate for Veterans, seniors, and those less fortunate.”

Quinn Singer has been a volunteer at many events for Draw for Paws, a not for profit named in honor and memory of Scarlett. Scarlett’s Rainbow Rescue works with homeward bound of Mississippi to transport hundreds of puppies annually from kill shelters to their forever families. Quinn has also volunteered with Draw for Paws to expand pediatric cancer awareness. “This group was created by a young girl who battled brain cancer, and I wanted to help their cause,” said Quinn, who also helped with the not for profit’s efforts and services at local hospitals.

The 2020 Student Award was organized by Horace Greeley High School Guidance Counselor Rebecca Mullen. The award was given to honor Greeley Guidance Counselor Patrick Dougherty “who helped to keep the Community Service Recognition on track and procured applications for many years,” said Sandy Bueti, board member. Community recognition awards by the Rotary, such as these, are accorded to community members who most exemplify the Rotary’s motto of ‘Service Above Self.”

Lavdie Maqedonci-Krasniqi

Incoming Rotary Club president Eileen Gallagher and fellow Rotarians also took the opportunity to thank and honor outgoing Rotary Club president Lavdie Maqedonci-Krasniqi for her service. ‘Lavdie’ thanked many well-wishers for their support during her Rotary tenure and for their support during a successful battle against cancer.

– Grace Bennett

Best Reasons to Support Chappaqua’s Rotary Club

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Courtesy of the Rotary of Chappaqua

1. Community Day

2. Pancake Breakfast

3. Blood Drives

4. “Ringing in the New Year” Celebration

5. High School Scholarships

6. Community Service Award

7. Members of all ages and backgrounds who believe in “Service Above Self”

8. Host to over 30 informative guest speakers a year from within the community and beyond

9. Contributions to charities and community members including SHARE, Fuller Center for Housing, Larson Brain Tumor Foundation, SPCA, Support Connection, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Wagon Road Camp, Evan’s Team, GraceNotes, Alex’s Team, and many more

10. Part of Rotary International, a global network of over 1.2 million people of action including neighbors, friends, leaders and problem solvers working to better our world

Please visit ‘Chappaqua Rotary Club’ on Facebook