Bonnie Trotta, board member and associate dinner chair; Seema Boesky, board member; Brian Skanes, executive director; honoree Laureen Barber; and Maria Roach, board member and dinner chair.
More
than 520community supporters, local corporations,
and board members gathered recently at the Boys & Girls
Clubs of Northern Westchester’s 14th
annual Humanitarian Award Dinner. Laureen Barber was
named Humanitarian of the Year, the highest honor given to one of
the Club’s supporters. The gala took place on Saturday, June
7 at The Sleepy Hollow Country Cluband grossed
over $1 million. A $400,000 donation was made to fund a new kitchen
and canteen in the Mount Kisco facility, which will provide hot meals
and supplemental nutrition/cooking classes for Club members. Maria
Roach was the Gala chair.
The annual dinner is the Club’s signature fundraising
event. All proceeds go directly to providing scholarships for children
in need and developing support programs for the 3,500 youths at the
Club’s locations in Mount Kisco, Tarrytown, and Yorktown. The
traditional gala was accompanied by both silent and online auctions. John
Johnson, former news anchor at NBC, CBS, and ABC, served
as Master of Ceremonies and George McNeely, senior
vice president of Business Development for Christie’s, was auctioneer
for the event’s live auction.
The Club’s highly regarded Humanitarian Award was presented
to Laureen Barber by Skip Beitzel, president of the
Club’s Board of Directors. Barber has a member of the Board of
Directors since 2005 and a chair of the Tarrytown Advisory Board since
2006. She led the efforts that turned around the Tarrytown Center after
averting shut down in June 2006. Barber is also the co-owner of Blue
Hill restaurants as well as Design Director for the Stone Barns Center
for Food and Agriculture, where she focuses on ensuring that design
and graphic elements reflect the philosophy of the food that is produced
and served.
Several other awards were presented throughout the evening. Club member Nnamdi
Anuforo, a senior at Sleepy Hollow High School, received the
Youth of the Year Award. The John Beach Charity Award was presented
by Board vice president Tom O’Brien to New York
State Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. Seventeen-year-old Raymond
Estrella, a member of the Tarrytown Center Club for four years,
accepted the Chris Cutri Memorial Award.
Ann Johnson; John Johnson, Master of Ceremonies; David Barber; and Laureen Barber.
2008 Youth of the Year Nnamdi Anuforo with Laureen Barber.
Chynna Phillips.
Kent Karlsson and Seema Boesky.
Brian Skanes, Laureen Barber, and Christine Gelwicks.
Photos:
Image 5: John Vecchiolla. All others by Steve Morton
