The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

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How the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund Helps Students Attend College

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Upcoming March 20th Fundraiser Plays A Crucial Role 

As college fees continue to grow faster than inflation, it’s no surprise that some families, even in communities like Chappaqua, will struggle to afford the hefty price tags. What sets Chappaqua apart, though, is a beloved community resource that since 1946 has been there to help many students bridge the gap between what their families can afford, aid provided by other sources such as colleges and universities themselves, and the price they actually are required to pay: the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund.

“I grew up in a single-mom household and my mom didn’t have much money at all,” Horace Greeley grad Andrew Santana said. “I thought college wasn’t even an option for me. (The fund) really gave me more than money–they gave me hope.”

Today, after graduating from SUNY Geneseo and law school at the University of Dayton, Santana practices civil litigation and criminal law in Cincinnati. This spring the benefit for the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund will be held at Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase on March 20, and Linda and Ed Bosco, as well as Patrick Dougherty, will be honored. The Boscos will receive the Taylor Family Award, and Dougherty will receive, unfortunately posthumously, the Ed Habermann Award.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HGHS

Raising Funds

Last year, the benefit leadership committee raised more than $140,000. “Every year we have a benefit and we’re expecting over 350 friends and neighbors,” Scottie Guerney, president of the board of the HGSF, said, describing the honorees as having “really stood out in their gifts of service to the community. They are really incredible.”

Last year, the fund awarded more than $300,000 to students who had financial need beyond what financial aid and scholarships supplied. “And there was still need to be met,” Guerney said.

Besides the benefit, the fund has a few other ways it accumulates money. SHARE, the major student community service organization at Horace Greeley High School, runs an annual spelling bee and donates the proceeds. There’s also a game night in the fall. “It’s much smaller but to us everything counts,” Guerney said.

Publicizing the Scholarship to Students

Rebecca Mullen, chair of the counseling department at Horace Greeley High School, said her department makes sure students and families know about the HGSF in a variety of ways, beginning in ninth grade. “Families become aware of it as soon as they get to Greeley,” Mullen said. “The counseling department is very supportive of the scholarship fund and we work very closely with it – we love working with the parents that organize the fund.”

At the annual Night Meetings held for each grade, a representative from the fund will make a 2-3 minute presentation. Additionally, the fund is highlighted in the counseling department’s newsletter, Guide Lines. Then, when juniors and their families come in for meetings to discuss the college process, once again they are told about the fund and when appropriate, encouraged to apply.

Of course, Mullen said she doesn’t know which students become recipients of the HGSF unless they choose to share that information with her. The process and distributions are entirely confidential. “We have as a subset of our fund a small and entirely confidential grants committee,” Guerney said. The committee works with an expert in college financial aid.

Guerney previously served two years as board vice president and several years before that as a member of the 27-person board. Currently, her own children attend Bell and Grafflin. Guerney joined the board after meeting a member of the board of education who suggested it. “He said he thought I’d really connect well and be interested in the scholarship fund,” Guerney said, adding that she has a background in teaching.

“We’d love to meet the need for everyone, so every Greeley grad can obtain a college education,” Guerney said. “We are big proponents of the scholarship fund because we’ve seen it be life-changing for students,” Mullen said. “It really is an amazing resource that makes Greeley very special.”

Guerney notes that the recipients of the fund have said it has really changed their lives. “It’s amazing how generous our community is,” Guerney said. “And the generosity of the community has made them want to pay that forward and that’s a beautiful sentiment.”

Providing Hope

“Given the option to attend college – your future is a world apart what it could have been,” Santana said. “People think of Chappaqua as a place where people have money. They don’t realize that a lot of people, without the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund, just would not be able to attend college.”

 

Living Proof: An Evening of Hope & Healing to Raise Awareness About Suicide Prevention

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The Living Proof Performers
PHOTO BY DAVID WHOLE

In early March at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, The Mental Health Association of Westchester (MHA), The Lagond Music School, and Music & Miles: Changing Minds joined forces to present a new multi-arts evening of energizing performances that shined a light on mental health issues and the power of the arts as a vehicle in sharing individual stories of healing in the face of adversity.

The evening of expressive arts benefitted the Miles Applebaum Music Scholarship Fund at The Lagond Music School and The Mental Health Association of Westchester. Performances included nine musical and dance presentations along with three “Voices of Recovery” monologues. Radio DJs Coach and Bruce Figler of 107.1 The Peak, a media partner of the event, emceed the evening.

Shari and Ed Applebaum of Armonk, Miles’ parents, were the event co-chairs. When asked what she wanted attendees to take away from the evening’s performances, Shari, who is also a Suicide Bereavement Specialist at MHA said, “A sense of hope and healing. No one goes through life unscathed. Everyone has something that they’re dealing with whether it’s a mental or physical health issue.”

The Miles Applebaum Music Scholarship Fund was established to honor and remember Miles Applebaum, a guitar student who studied at The Lagond Music School and later the Boyer School of Music and Dance at Temple University. Miles died by suicide at the age of 21 in 2014, and the Scholarship Fund was created to carry on his dream by providing aspiring musicians the opportunity to ignite their passion and study music at The Lagond Music School, a nonprofit musical haven for students of all ages.

Shari and Ed Applebaum
PHOTO BY KELLY LEONARD

The 2018 scholarship winners were runner-up Audrey Pretnar, a guitarist from Mohegan Lake and winner Liam Kharem, a drummer and bass clarinetist from Sleepy Hollow.

Close friends of Miles who performed at the event hoped attendees would come away with a new awareness and understanding for those dealing with mental health issues. Annabelle Hiller in her onstage monologue said, “We live in a world where sensitivity is defined as weakness. Emotions are amazing, even the sh*tty ones.”

A unique element of the evening’s performances was each of the musicians, singers, performers, and speakers had been touched in some way by a suicide or an attempted suicide. They shared their experience, strength and hope from the stage through their words and artistry with the audience.

Roseanne Lanna, Lagond Music School Co-Founder and Executive Director, who also served along with Charlie Lagond as Show Director, said she hoped the evening would offer a “sense of awareness, of noticing when family, friends, or neighbors are not acting themselves or acting out of the ordinary and to especially watch out for neighbors. We’re all connected.”

In her remarks from the stage, Shari Applebaum encouraged the audience in “taking the time to notice [others] and ask, ‘Are you OK?’”

The Miles Applebaum Music Scholarship Fund was established to honor and remember Miles Applebaum, a guitar student at The Lagond Music School and later the Boyer School of Music and Dance at Temple University.

To learn more, visit the websites of The Mental Health Association of Westchester https://www.mhawestchester.org, The Lagond Music School http://lagondmusic.org, and Music & Miles: Changing Minds https://www.musicandmiles.org.

 Bruce Williams
(L-R): Bruce Figler,
Rebecca Haviland, Chris Rodriguez AKA Coach
Living Proof Scholarship Winners
Liam Kharem, Audrey Pretnar

Record Funds Raised as HGSF Honors Key School Leaders

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The Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund (HGSF) raised a record $186,000 during a March gala at the Mount Kisco Country Club.

PHOTOS BY HANNAH ROSENBERG

HGSF Gala co-chairs Rachel Rader and Cathy Hildenbrand attributed the sum to generous sponsors, donors and to the lively auction. “This year has also brought an increased number of applicants,” they added, “so we still have work to do to meet our needs.”

Brian O’Connor, a 5th grade teacher for the last 12 years at Seven Bridges, received the Ed Habermann Award. The HGSF lauded his interweaving of ‘CNN Heroes’ into his curriculum. His students have studied, connected with (sending out over 4,000 letters to dozens of heroes on five continents), and learned from these inspiring role models during dozens of Skype conversations and several Hero visits to Seven Bridges. Brian’s program was recognized and featured on the 10th Annual CNN Heroes Tribute live television broadcast in December 2016.

Brian O’Connor

O’Connor’s dad, Jim, introduced his son, as “always a great leader, who led by example.” O’Connor, for his part, quipped, “I try not to screw them up in the ten months that I have them.” He described his goal of always working toward helping kids find their passion, “and see how they can use it to help other people.” O’Connor also enjoys time with his wife, Tara, and their three children–Alix, Jenna, and James. He loves coaching youth soccer, basketball, and baseball in their hometown of Montgomery, New York.

Ellen Miller, a passionate advocate of childhood nutrition, received the HGSF “Award of Distinction.” At Grafflin, Ellen chaired the Grapevine newsletter, Griffin magazine and the Health & Safety Committee. As part of a joint elementary school committee, she was a key architect of Grafflin’s “Eat a Rainbow” program which helped students select balanced lunches.

Ellen Miller

She chaired Nutrition Committees at Grafflin, Bell, and Greeley. In 2006, Ellen joined the Superintendent’s Wellness Advisory Committee, helping to create the district’s wellness policy and food guidelines. She spearheaded the initiative to have recess before lunch, helped refine food service offerings and pricing, enhanced the district’s “farm to table” focus and established healthier food and beverage choices. Ellenalso joined the Chappaqua School Foundation board in 2006. She worked on the Grants Committee for the majority of her nine-year tenure.

Ellen Miller’s two sons Harris and Trevor poked fun at their mom’s limits on both junk food and her allowance of twice a week red meat dinners.  They said they admired her for ‘burning the candle on both ends” as she worked toward a Master’s degree in Food Studies at NYU.

Michelle Hecht and Randi Childs
(L-R): Ilene Weinberg, Samantha Potack, Amanda Goodstadt, Tamara Brolin, Robyn Lavender
Wendi Silverman (left), Ellen Miller, Laura Medway

Miller said she encourages kids to “dream big… and change the world.”  She said she supports HGSF goals “because it’s heartbreaking when a child’s dream can’t be realized. “ “A child’s dream can be broken in the blink of an eye… Thanks for helping me make their dreams a reality.”  — Grace Bennett 

 

Joe DiMauro, auctioneer
Jim O’Connor, Brian O’Connor’s Dad
Ellen Miller’s sons Trevor and Harris

A Raveis Community Effort to Benefit The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

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raveis team
William Raveis Team Chappaqua Front row (L-R): Elise Levine Cooper, Jean Cameron-Smith, Sue Labate, Lori Lerner, Susan Myers. Back row: Glenn Felson, Paul Menga

The William Raveis Real Estate office in Chappaqua has launched a community fundraising effort to benefit the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. This fundraising effort will tie-in with the William Raveis Ride & Walk event on Saturday, September 12, 2015, 8 a.m. at Jennings Beach, 880 S. Benson Road, Fairfield, CT.

Partner to Help Fund Research

William Raveis chose to partner with the Damon Runyon Cancer Research foundation because the organization “identifies new generations of cancer researchers who have the brilliance, creativity and drive to revolutionize cancer research, and provides them with funding to pursue their boldest ideas in search of new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat all forms of cancer.”

“William Raveis is headquartered in Shelton, CT, and the Ride & Walk events are being held in both MA and CT for now,” says Chappaqua Team Captain Elise Levine Cooper. “I have to say that just about everybody I know has dealt with cancer on some level and has felt the ravages of this disease. We need to find cures for these cancers and the best way to do this is to invest in the most brilliant minds. That is why we support the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

“We want to reach out to our friends and family members in Chappaqua and beyond and ask for any kind of donation because Team Chappaqua is here to make an important difference in the fight against cancer! We are hoping to form a Westchester Ride & Walk in the near future.”

“We have been following the journey of Candy Raveis, William Raveis’s wife as she has shared her personal battle with leukemia with the entire Raveis company since her diagnosis in 2014,” says Susan Myers, Office Manager of the Raveis Chappaqua Office.

raveis bike

Candy Raveis: Official Spokes-woman

“Candy is a warrior. She has documented this most difficult chapter in her life and she has fought hard and is here to tell her story. Candy has taken her experience and translated it into her work as the official spokesperson for the partnership between the William Raveis Charitable Fund and the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation.”

One hundred percent of the funds raised goes to cancer research. We welcome everyone to join us on Saturday, September 12 at the Ride & Walk Event.

Please stop by the office at 75 N. Greeley Avenue in Chappaqua to sign up. If you can’t participate, all donations are welcome!