Jessica Reinmann

Kids’ Kloset Fashion Show Gala: A Fun-Filled Evening of Glamour Filled with Generosity

April 18, 2019 by Stacey Pfeffer

Models Sam Berk, Olivia Berk, Marissa Senzon and Kayla Roth

There they were sashaying down the red carpet clad runway–a nattily dressed toddler strutting his stuff in a stylish sweater, a tween decked out in a tulle skirt with on trend sunglasses. A DJ played the latest hits as these mini models advanced on the catwalk while Lindsay Brooke Weiss from Coco in Cashmere, an Armonk stylist and fashion blogger gave quick bios of the models.

Only this fashion show held last month in Harrison at the Willow Ridge Country Club had a higher purpose than just showcasing the latest spring styles for kids. All of the 80+ child models representing towns from across the county were donating their clothing immediately after the show to Kids’ Kloset, a nonprofit that provides under-served Westchester County children with donated clothing and related items.

Since Kids’ Kloset was created in 2011, the volunteer run organization has provided more than 17,000 “Bags of Love” containing clothing, footwear, diapers and other baby essentials to local children. Formerly under the auspices of Westchester Jewish Community Services, Kids’ Kloset recently became a division of (914) Cares and opened up new headquarters in North White Plains this past fall. Michael Slomsky, a Vice Chairman of (914) Cares and Chappaqua resident whose daughter Megan was in the show, said the new North White Plains spot is an ideal location with ample space to showcase the clothing with low overhead.

Top Left (L-R): Jessica Reinmann Founder (914) Cares, Diane Katz (honoree) and Stephanie Roth Founder Kids’ Kloset. Top Right (L-R): Nathalie Joseph, Viola Regis and Tamar Joseph. Middle: Lindsay Brooke Weiss with her children, Colette and Steele Weiss. Bottom Left: Models Marley Gellert and Caitlin Samkoff. PHOTO BY LAUREN GELLERT Bottom Right: Models Emery Zipper, Emily Attar, Abigail Pfeffer. PhotoS BY Jamie Kaplan
except where noted

Although Kids’ Kloset has held fashion shows in previous years, this year’s event was the largest turn out to date, according to Jessica Reinmann, chairperson of (914) Cares and a resident of Chappaqua. “I really think the partnership between (914) Cares and Kids’ Kloset is what made this year’s event such a success,” said Reinmann. The event raised more than $100K as of press time and Reinmann hopes that next year’s event will have attendees from every zip code of Westchester.

The event honored Diane Katz, a longtime Kids’ Kloset supporter and White Plains resident. During the show, attendees also learned of the dire need for essentials that some 51,000 families in Westchester face with annual incomes of less than $24,000. An attendee from Armonk, Michele Zipper was happy to have her daughter, Emery participate as a model in the show. “It’s great that she can do something with fashion that helps others,” said Zipper.

Viola Regis, a Mount Vernon resident was an attendee and her daughters, Lily and Izzy, who also graced the runway have been the recipient of Kids’ Kloset’s “Bags of Love”. She donated $100 to the organization at the gala as a way to show her appreciation for Kids’ Kloset. For several summers, her daughters have attended sleep away camps on scholarships and Kids’ Kloset has outfitted them for the experience. One attendee remarked that many children who receive camp scholarships actually turn them down because the families can’t afford the many camp essentials. “My children always have a smile on their face when they go to Kids’ Kloset and I know they help not just my family but so many others,” said Regis.

Kids’ Kloset founder Stephanie Roth was also excited at the gala to announce the launch of a “Baby Bank” this spring which will provide not only essentials like supplies of diapers for six months but also other items such as pack and plays. This “Baby Bank” and the evening’s gala illustrates just how much progress the organization has made since Roth decided to start the organization after a young mom in her community who couldn’t afford a stroller showed up at Roth’s doorstep a decade ago.

For more information about Kids’ Kloset, visit 914cares.org.

An Appetite for Generosity

March 8, 2019 by Sabra Staudenmaier

(L-R): (914) Cares 4th Annual Empty Bowls Committee, Dana Berk, Jodi Falbaum, Lisa Samkoff, Melissa Levine, Jillian Pohly, Jessica Reinmann, Mike Slomsky, Dawn Greenberg, Lena Cavanna, Doug Alpuche and Lauren Stern

(914) Cares Fourth Annual Empty Bowls Event Raises $120,000 to Fight Hunger in Westchester

On the cold Sunday evening before Thanksgiving, a warmth radiated from Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant and Inn. The smell of hearty food filled the air. A simple meal of soup, bread and hors d’oeuvres was being prepared in the kitchen. An abstract sculpture stood inside the entrance of this quaint venue. It was made of ceramic bowls and cans of soup, layered in rows that progressively narrowed from bottom to top, forming a tree. The tree symbolized the upcoming holiday season. The bowls were individually and uniquely hand-painted by members of the community. They were all empty; a reminder that many cannot afford to fill their bowls. The guests of the evening were there to support the Empty Bowls Westchester annual fundraiser to help the fight against hunger.

Throughout the restaurant, soup and bread stations were set up alongside additional displays of painted bowls. Signs explaining the work being done to end hunger sat beside more of the painted bowls. The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry displayed a sign saying, “We fed 41,791 people last year”. The Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester showed a sign informing, “We serve over 80,000 nutritious meals each year.” Hillside Food Outreach had a sign that shared, “We have over 300 volunteers that pack & deliver to our clients.”

Celebrities Help the Cause

Set aside from the main event, the Kittle House’s Tap room was lined with tables showcasing larger bowls that had been signed by celebrities who support this important cause. Celebrities who participated by donating signed bowls included Yankees legend Mariano Rivera, Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora, author and activist Cecile Richards, US golfing great Tom Watson, Bill and Hillary Clinton, author James Patterson, HQ Trivia Host Scott Rogowsky and Pinkalicious children’s author Victoria Kahn. These “Celebrity Bowls” were an important part of the fundraising effort. They were available to bid on in the evening’s highly anticipated silent auction.

Empty Bowls Westchester is a division of (914) Cares–an organization that supports local Westchester based non-profits that focus on basic human needs: food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education. According to the Feeding Westchester (formerly known as the Westchester Food Bank), one in five residents of Westchester is food insecure, which means approximately 200,000 people are hungry or at risk for hunger. Each year, an Empty Bowls Committee is formed to run the local arm of the international grassroots effort to raise money and awareness in the fight to end hunger in our community.

Grant recipients (L-R): Kelly Housman, Mt. Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry; Susan Bretti, Community Center of Northern Westchester; Clare Murray, Community Center of Northern Westchester and Robin Karp, Pleasantville Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry

A Community Wide Effort

Beginning in the spring, (914) Cares Co-Founders Dawn Greenberg and Jessica Reinmann work with volunteers from the community who donate their time to hand paint bowls, one by one. Members from Congregation Sons of Israel Briarcliff, Pace University and Strauss Paper employees along with several Girl Scout troops are among those who helped paint bowls which, this year, totaled over 250. Once painted, A Maze in Pottery in Briarcliff Manor, a generous supporter of this cause, fires all the painted bowls in their kiln.

Local Grant Recipients Utilize Event’s Funds

Local organizations who are on the front lines in the fight against hunger apply to receive grants from the funds raised. This year six grant recipients were selected. These organizations were Bread of Life, The Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, The Community Center of Northern Westchester, Hillside Food Outreach, The Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry of Pleasantville and The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry.

The recipients of this year’s grants were extremely appreciative for funding they received, but the community members who attended the fundraiser were just as thankful for the work the organizations do. Whether it’s through rescuing food so that it does not go to waste, delivering food to the sick or elderly, or running a food pantry year -round; through the grace of these organizations, the gap between those who are able to give and those who are in need is being bridged. The people who champion this cause maintain that they get more than they give from the work they do.

Ways to Get Involved

Empty Bowls Westchester and (914) Cares are always looking for the help of generous people. Whatever one can give is significant and makes a difference. Reinmann encourages the community to continue to support this cause by hosting a bowl painting party, becoming a sponsor or attending the next Empty Bowls Westchester event. Celebrity–signed bowls are always welcome donations for the silent auction portion of the fundraiser. There are many ways to get involved.

In Reinmann’s experience, people are very generous during the holiday season, but help often declines in January and February. The depth of winter, however, is when the need for help is the greatest. She encourages people to reach out to local food banks to find out what is needed and run a drive to raise those items accordingly.

The Empty Bowls event was a success but there is still much more work to be done. Since its inception, four years ago, Empty Bowls Westchester has raised almost half a million dollars. Greenberg and Reinmann aim to continue to support the growth of the program. They want to help create a community where basic fundamental needs are available to everyone. A place where poverty and hunger is not temporarily mended with a band aid but rather where the cycle of poverty is ended.

When the evening was over, every attendee received a hand-painted bowl to remind them of all the empty bowls in the world that still need to be filled and to inspire them to continue to support ending hunger. The ultimate goal, according to Reinmann, is “the day when (914) Cares is no longer needed, that will be the best day ever.”

For more information on how to support Empty Bowls Westchester, please visit 914cares.org

Some Really Super Bowls

Over the past four years, a number of very special bowls have been auctioned during the Empty Bowls silent auction. Artist in Residence and committee member, Melissa Levine, painted most of this year’s bowls that were sent to celebrities who volunteered to sign them to help raise money for this cause. A Maze in Pottery Briarcliff Manor’s Nancy Beard generously assisted by lending her artistic talent to paint some of the celebrity-signed bowls. For this year’s auction, comedian Jim Belushi did his own artwork on the bowl he signed and donated.

The bidding on celebrity bowls starts at $125 and bowls can go for any amount higher. To date, the bowl that has gotten the highest bid was from last year’s silent auction. It was a bowl signed by the entire Philadelphia Eagles football team and was won by a bid of $1,700.

Some celebrities, for example Bill and Hillary Clinton, are regular supporters, and have signed a bowl to be auctioned each year.

On occasion, a bowl will be sent to a celebrity for signing and the celebrity will return the bowl with an additional item to be included in the auction. Two years ago, musician James Taylor added a signed guitar to his donation. For this year’s auction, Richie Sambora donated a signed guitar along with his signed bowl.

New Name & New Charitable Initiatives for: (914) Cares

February 21, 2018 by Inside Press

Editor’s Note: (914) Cares drew our attention recently and we learned of its numerous charitable efforts in Westchester. These began with Dawn Greenberg and Jessica Reinmann who together are the founders of ‘Chappaqua Cares, Chappaqua Shares.’ Launched in 2014, it intended to “introduce our neighbors to lesser known local nonprofits and their needs. The goal was to channel donations of goods and volunteer hours to these organizations,” stated Greenberg and Reinmann.

What you need to know about (914) Cares

The two founders explain the name change, too: “Initially our focus was on food, clothing and toys and was limited to organizations in Chappaqua for whom we ran short-term drives. Our focus quickly grew into longer-term support for the pantries closest to Chappaqua with an annual fundraising event, Empty Bowls. In addition, as part of our goal to teach children the importance of volunteerism, we created events for families like card-marking for nursing homes and pajama/book collection for Project Night Night. Because our goals and mission have broadened over time to include nonprofits throughout the County and to involve communities beyond New Castle, in 2018 we updated our name to (914) Cares.”

Key Programs

Empty Bowls

Empty Bowls is part of an international grassroots effort to combat hunger with fundraising events reminding participants of the empty bowls throughout the world. Our organization has raised over $300,000 with annual Empty Bowls events in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In addition to providing financial support through these events to area pantries and organizations that combat hunger, we seek to educate our communities on the pervasive rate of hunger in our County.

Kids’ Kloset

Kids’ Kloset is a volunteer-driven program that provides Westchester County children and families in need with donated clothing and related items free of charge. Since Kids’ Kloset was opened in 2011, it has provided over 16,000 bags of clothing and diapers to local children. Children, newborn to 18 years of age, receive “bags of love” with clothing prepared into outfits free of rips, stains, and missing buttons. The bags represent more than clothing. We believe they boost the confidence and esteem of the youth, potentially helping to improve grades at school and reduce stress in the household. And parents can be assured their children have clean, appropriate, well-fitting clothing.

We assist our Community Partners with publicity and execution of donation drives for a variety of items needed for basic human needs including: clothing, food, diapers, toiletries, books, school supplies, toys and gifts. The focus is on new or gently used items getting quickly into the hands of those who can most use them.

Volunteer Drives are used to help area nonprofit organizations fill volunteer hours for both short-term and ongoing programs. We help provide volunteer hours for food pantry stocking and disbursement, sorting of goods from drives, fundraising events, reading mentoring, cooking and many other requests.

Family Support, Frequently we help provide local families with immediate short-term help including clothing, housewares, food drives and/or meal trains. We also provide referrals to agencies able to help with long-term support.

For more information, visit 914Cares.org.

Or, contact directly: Jessica Reinmann: jessica@914cares.com and Dawn Greenberg dawn@914cares.com

‘Empty Bowls Westchester:’ Raising Funds and Awareness

December 1, 2016 by Kelly Leonard

The signed Hillary Bowl: presented as a gift to Dawn Greenberg; here, together with Jessica Reinmann (left) and News 12 emcee, Lisa Salvadorini (right) PHOTO BY GRACE BENNETT

The second annual Empty Bowls Westchester fundraising event raised $87,500 in one evening on Sunday, November 13, at the Whippoorwill Club in Armonk to support local food pantries in Northern Westchester including The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, The Community Center of Northern Westchester and the Pleasantville Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry. Award-winning anchor for New 12 Westchester and News 12 Hudson Valley, Lisa Salvadorini, served as the evening fundraiser emcee.

Hosted by Chappaqua Cares, an organization dedicated to connecting local residents with philanthropic opportunities for volunteering, fundraising and donating, the event included a celebrity bowl silent auction with bowls signed by Chappaqua’s own Hillary Clinton, Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, singer/songwriter James Taylor, country music star Carrie Underwood, New York Mets players and other notables.

Co-founders and organizers Dawn Evans Greenberg and Jessica Stern Reinmann welcomed guests as they made their way into the club. The event was attended by hundreds who came out to support the cause in casual dress and dined on a simple meal of soup and bread.

The bowl signed by Hillary Clinton helped raise $3,000 in the silent auction. The bowl was presented as a gift to Greenberg who had worked tirelessly during the election season on behalf of Hillary for America.

Why the need for an event to help end hunger in affluent Westchester County? According to USDA’s 2014 report on hunger in America, Household Food Insecurity in the United States, 13.5 % of New York residents are food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to a nutritious well-balanced diet. The Food Bank for Westchester estimates that approximately 200,000 Westchester County residents are hungry or at risk of hunger. More than half of them are seniors; one-third are children under the age of 18.

Empty Bowls Westchester is part of the Empty Bowls project, an international grassroots effort to raise money and awareness in the fight against hunger. Empty Bowls communities work together to create hand painted bowls for guests to take home at the end of the event to serve as a reminder of all of the people in the world whose bowls are empty on a daily basis.

For more information contact Empty Bowls Westchester at chappaquacares@gmail.comor find them on Facebook at EmptyBowlsWestchester and Twitter @chappaquacares.

Kelly Leonard is the Founder and Principal Consultant of KLO Associates, LLC, a digital marketing boutique specializing in custom content strategy and influencer engagement for authors, publishers, local businesses and nonprofits. Previously she held senior management positions at Time Warner Book Group and Hachette Book Group.