Scarsdale Synagogue Opens Youth Engagement Center
- Details
- Hits: 3805
Scarsdale Synagogue on Ogden Road opened its newly reimagined Youth Engagement Center, at a dedication brunch and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday morning, March 10th. The completely refurbished youth lounge is part of the Synagogue's Youth Engagement Initiative named in honor of Rabbi Emeritus Stephen A. Klein, who retired last year after serving this leading Reform Jewish congregation as its senior rabbi for 32 years.
Ellen Baken, the Synagogue's president said: "With generous contributions of both time and money from all parts of our congregational family, Rabbi Klein's vision and the tireless efforts of our Youth Engagement Initiative task force, we were able to completely renovate, decorate and fully furnish a section of our building, giving our teens and pre-teens a special place to gather, plan activities and simply have fun."
Most important," Ms. Baken noted, "the rest of the funds raised support programs that fulfill our commitment to create the fresh, innovative congregational and communal activities that are the heart of our Youth Engagement Initiative. That programming," she added, "is already in full swing, under the leadership our Director of Youth Engagement Ivy Cohen, supported and assisted by Senior Rabbi Jeffrey Brown, Cantor Chanin Becker and many active members, of all ages, who understand that successful lives are built on a foundation of the humanistic values Reform Judaism teaches."
Scarsdale Synagogue's youth group recently hosted a major gathering of more than 150 teen members of the North American Federation of Temple Youth's New York-area Region. Teens attending the gathering in January came from Westchester, Fairfield, New York City and Long Island, and programming included study and fun. In also fulfilling their commitment to tikkun olam, Hebrew for "repairing the world," the teens raised over $6,000 for the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, an organization that strives to eradicate pediatric cancer.
For more information on SSTT, contact, Executive Director Gary Katz at (914) 725-5175 or by email at GaryKatz@sstte.org.
Scarsdale Rotary To Change Wine Into Water at March 21 Fundraiser
- Details
- Hits: 3114
The Scarsdale Rotary Club will host its fourth annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser Thursday evening, March 21, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Scarsdale Woman's Club, 37 Drake Road, Scarsdale. Profits from the evening, which includes ten fine wines donated by Zachy's of Scarsdale and the Scarsdale Agency, underwrite the club's international and local charitable grants program. In the three years since the event's inception, the club has donated more than $20,000 to Rotary International's goal of providing clean drinking water throughout Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere. Thomas Cain, Fire Chief of the Village of Scarsdale and the chair of the Scarsdale Rotary Club's grants committee, says: "We've adopted the Biblical story of changing water into wine and turned it around, and we're very proud of our wine tasting party and its positive impact on clean water for Haiti and on numerous local charitable efforts."
Tickets for the evening are $65.00 each and are available from any Rotary Club member or via its website, www.scarsdalerotary.org. A live auction of several exclusive items, including a 60" television and a gourmet meal cooked right in your own home by a chef contestant on the upcoming season of Fox Television's Hell's Kitchen, along with a raffle for twelve other specialty gifts, round out the evening. Several local restaurants, including Moscato Ristorante and Savona, are providing an array of appetizers.
In addition to the international project, this annual event funds the club's support of various Westchester County charities. In the January 2013 distribution, just over $8,000 was shared with six local organizations, including ANDRUS, a children's service agency based in Yonkers, and My Sister's Place, which seeks to alleviate and prevent domestic violence.
The Best Valentine's Gift Ever
- Details
- Hits: 3424
This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Cynthia Roberts of Autenreith Road: Three intrepid Scarsdale women entered the classroom on February 14 with love in their hearts. After four hours of thumping and heavy breathing they came away with the best Valentine ever. Each was now trained to aid her husband, children or a stranger with CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), choking rescue and use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps Headquarters provided the teacher and classroom to learn these potentially life saving skills.
We were 12 men and women, ranging from young adults to adults of "a certain age". No experience is needed. For $45, you can't get a better Valentine! Bonus-you use the beautiful headquarters from which SVAC keeps our community safe. To find out more about this great course go to http://www.scarsdalevac.com/ and click on "Courses".
Cynthia Roberts
School Supply Drive for Pine Ridge and Hot Cocoa for PCF
- Details
- Hits: 4306
Pine Ridge Reservation School Supply Drive: Lakota Children's Enrichment announces its fourth annual Fill a Backpack/School Supply Drive for the Children Of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Why a school supply drive this time of year? Because some schools start running low on supplies around now and your efforts can make a difference.
The items will be distributed by teens from the Scarsdale Congregational Church Youth Action Committee (YAC), under the supervision of Reverend Frances Grenley. YAC members are devoting their Spring break to service on the Pine Ridge Reservation and will bring the goods to students at Pine Ridge Schools.
Now through March 15, LCE is collecting new:
· Backpacks (new or barely used)
· Spiral notebooks, composition notebooks, graph paper
· Calculators, rulers, compass and protractors
· Pens, colored pencils, markers, crayons
· White board pens
· Sharpies
They will also accept new or barely used running shoes, sports equipment (basketball is particularly popular) and popular children's books (especially picture books and books in series).
The local drop off is at the Parish House, Scarsdale Congregational Church, One Heathcote Road (red brick building at corner of Heathcote, Post and Crane Roads).
Pine Ridge is the home to the Oglala Lakota and encompasses Shannon County, one of the nation's poorest counties. Although roughly the size of Connecticut, there is only one bank, one hospital, no department stores and many homes do not have ready access to water or plumbing. Teen suicide, diabetes and alcoholism are reported at epidemic rates and some schools experience drop out rates as high as 70%.
With the steady support of the Scarsdale community, over the last few years LCE has sent over $150,000 in supplies and assistance to families and schools, and has sent over 9,000 books to the Pine Ridge Reservation.
If you do not have the time to shop, then please consider making a tax-deductible donation and let them do the shopping. To learn more or get involved, visit http://lakotakids.blogspot.com.
Hot Cocoa Fundraiser at All Good Things
Evan and Josh Greenberg will hold their annual Hot Cocoa sale for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation on March 9th and 10th at All Good Things at the Golden Horseshoe at 1074 Wilmost Road in Scarsdale.
Last year they raised over $3,500 for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and hope to top that this year. Evan, age 11 and Josh, 9 have been holding the event for six years.
This year includes gifts donated by many Scarsdale stores as well as raffle items from the Mets, Yankees, Giants, Jets, Rangers and Knicks.
Library Staff Thanked for Their Support During Hurricane Sandy
- Details
- Hits: 4165
To show their appreciation for the Library employees' hard work, dedication and support for the Scarsdale community during the post-Hurricane Sandy power outages, the Library Board treated them to lunch on January 14th.
(Pictured here) Back row: Aisha Bell, Deanna Schwam, Roberta Stein-Ham, Joan Bowen (Library Trustee), Terri Simon (Library Trustee), Stacey Brodsky (Village Trustee), Lori Gagliano, Barbara Josselsohn (Library Board President), Suzi Cassone; Seated: Ann-Marie Cutul, Sandy Selinka, Liliane Sherman Credit: Michael Dardano Scarsdale Public Library is located at 54 Olmsted Road, Scarsdale, NY, 10583. Phone: (914) 722-1300, www.scarsdalelibrary.org
