AFYA To Host Fundraiser at Rye Playland
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The AFYA Foundation will host a family day at Rye Playland on Sunday September 12 from noon until 3 pm., rain or shine
The event will help AFYA to raise the funds needed to collect and ship supplies to Haiti and African Nations. AFYA has played an instrumental role in Haiti since the earthquake, by training Haitians to become rehab techs and adaptive builders of products for the thousands of people who were disabled by the earthquake. Every six weeks, a team from AFYA goes to Haiti to continue training Haitians to be the care providers for thousands of disabled people living in IDP camps.
At the event, AFYA will be collecting gently used sports equipment (jump rope, kick balls, soccer balls, kids sneakers, cleats, socks, and jerseys, etc.) to provide some much needed recreation and distraction for children whose parents are receiving care in AFYA’s physical therapy centers. Some families travel long distances to the care centers, and the staff watches over the children during their stay. Toys will be delivered to the children living in tents with their families in Haiti.
Tickets begin at $50 and include unlimited rides, miniature golf, and lunch. For tickets go to afyafoundation.org or contact Joy Avidan at 914-761-4978 or email her at [email protected]
Pediatric Cancer Foundation Annual Luncheon
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The Pediatric Cancer Foundation will hold their 40th annual luncheon on Thursday September 30 at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. The event will include a silent and Chinese Auction, address from keynote speaker Amanda Luiso and a fashion show from The Look of Rye Brook.
The lunch is chaired by Stefanie Bartell-Zednik, Evette Guerzon, Dana Hokin, Jackie Kabot, Tabatha Marraccini, Wendy Schimel, and Suellen Singer. In their words, “we are thrilled to welcome speaker Amanda Luiso and boutique owner, Lisa Taubes to our annual luncheon. Both women deserve a standing ovation for their heartfelt community involvement and commitment to helping us in our mission to hold the hand of a child.”
Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF) is a non-profit charity whose mission is to find a cure for childhood cancer. They raise money for research, treatment, state of the art equipment and instruments and parent and patient care and support world renowned doctors at five leading tri-state hospitals including: Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, The Hassenfeld Children’s Center at NYU Medical Center, and Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center.
To find out more about Pediatric Cancer Foundation and register for the luncheon, visit www.pcfweb.org
Hitchcock Youth Do Mission Work
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From Scotland to Texas, from Haiti to Maryland, the youth group at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church has travelled across the country and the globe. This year, from June 27 to July 2, eleven youths, three youth leaders, and the pastor of Hitchcock Church travelled to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to do mission work. While in Mechanicsburg, the group worked with two local charities: Mission Central and Project SHARE.
Instead of staying at a hotel or paying for living arrangements, The Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church offered the group housing in one of the homes it owns. For the duration of the trip, the fifteen-member group lived in the almost fully furnished home. The girls slept on one air mattress in one bedroom while the boys slept in the basement. Each day, the group woke up at 7:30 am, got dressed, made breakfast, packed lunch, and was ready to leave the house and drive to work by 9:00 am.
On Monday July 28, the first day of work, the youth group arrived at Mission Central, a warehouse that supplies charities and mission groups with donated goods. Upon arriving, the group was presented with several Gaylord’s (pallet size box used for storage and shipping) and given the task to sort, package, and label the supplies. While some people worked on sorting and packaging, others focused their attention on preparing flood buckets, kits that are used for disaster relief. Except for an hour-long lunch break, the group worked nonstop-from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. After the day was over, the group travelled back and spent the rest of the day bonding by cooking dinner and playing recreational games.
On day two, the group completed the work they had started and moved on to preparing friendship kits for the homeless and sorting through cards for Mission Central to sell in its store. Once their work was complete, they went to a home that houses people with developmental disabilities. The group grilled dinner and socialized with the residents of the home. Once everyone had eaten their fill of hamburgers and hotdogs, everyone moved inside and the residents of the home gave the youth group a tour. A few hours were spent playing bingo and Wii until 8:30 arrived and it was time for the residents to prepare for bed.
On the third day, the youth group moved onto a new organization Project SHARE, a food bank that provides groceries for people below the poverty level in Carlisle County Pennsylvania. While some kids helped weed and plant flowers, others sorted and packaged bread. By the end of the group’s two days at Project SHARE, they had managed to package around twenty four thousand rolls. These rolls, along with other grocery items are distributed the third week of every month. In addition, the organization serves fresh produce daily- on a given month it will serve around a thousand recipients. After their work at Project SHARE was done for the day, the youth group went back to the house to relax then went to Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church for dinner. A few women from that church prepared a dinner of Sloppy Joes, pasta, and salad to show their hospitality and gratitude. The trip ended with an evening of fun at Hershey Park.
According to Anna Sherman, a rising senior at SHS “[The trip] was a fun experience…where I got to work in a warehouse and have the warm feeling of helping people.” Taylor Yu, a rising sophomore at SHS, spoke about the gratification that she gets from service. “ The mission trip was an amazing experience and a fantastic way to combine fun and charitable work. I definitely had a great time and I am really proud of all the help we gave.”
Kailyn Amory wrote this article and this was her third mission trip.
Keep Our Stormwater Clean
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Did you know that anything dumped into a storm drain in our area flows directly into the Bronx River, area lakes, ponds, wetlands and streams? Ultimately untreated debris, chemicals, and animal waste ends up in the water we use for drinking swimming and fishing.
That’s why the Village of Scarsdale and the Lions Club joined forces on Saturday July 24 to mark catch basins or storm drains with the circle marker you see here. The group spent the day marking catch basis in Fox Meadow and Greenacres and estimated that they covered 230 basins.
Assemblywoman Amy Paulin joined the effort, and said, “Community service is a bedrock of this community. The Annie Sullivan Lions Club is a relatively new service organization that is looking to build upon this spirit of giving back and I was pleased to join them in this endeavor.
They plan to assemble again on August 16th to continue their work, and if you are interested in helping, please contact John D. Goodwin at the Village Manager’s Office at [email protected], or call him at 722-1110.
But even if you don’t volunteer to mark the drains, you can help by stopping the flow of waste into our storm drain system. If you have a pet, clean up after them by using a plastic bag, securing the bag tightly and placing it in a garbage can.
SHS Students Fight Malaria in Ghana
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As a group of Scarsdale High School seniors headed to Mississippi a few weeks ago to help rebuild houses still destroyed after Hurricane Katrina, several others went to Ghana on a very different type of community service trip. Casey Russo, Brett Pearl, and Noah Ahles went to Ghana with teacher chaperones Seth Evans and Elizabeth Karambelkar from June 11th to June 21st. The purpose of the trip was to help people learn how to set up and use mosquito nets properly so as to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes at night, thus reducing their risk of getting malaria.
Malaria is a preventable disease but sadly causes almost 500 million illnesses yearly and kills more than 1 million of those infected. As the organization Netsforlife describes, “When insecticide-treated nets are used properly by three-quarters of the people in a community, malaria transmission is cut by 50%, child deaths are cut by 20%, and the mosquito population drops by as much as 90%...It is estimated that less than 5% of children in sub-Saharan Africa currently sleep under any type of insecticide-treated net.” Bed nets are a simple solution to malaria: if you reduce the contact people have with mosquitoes, you reduce the transmission of malaria.
The students got involved in the trip after Mr. Evans gave a presentation earlier in the year about this amazing opportunity available. The application process for the trip was relatively easy, said Ahles, due to a lack of many interested students. However, just as it seemed it would be in Evans’ presentation, the trip truly was amazing. The group spent most of their time when they were not hanging nets sightseeing and exploring the area. This was the first time 
Scarsdale High School had offered this trip to students, so a lot of the trip understandably entailed figuring out plans and arranging things as it went along. When the group hung nets, it usually took the entire day in teams of four to hang only 15 nets. While the goal of the trip was for the students to help with the nets, they in fact did much more than that. When they were not hanging nets, they brought medical supplies to a small village called Kwei Kro, went to a health clinic at one of the schools and helped with health screenings, worked with Danielle Butin, founder of the Afya Foundation, as she analyzed what supplies were needed and could be sent over to the area, visited the Cape Coast, where the slave trade in Ghana began, and even visited a rainforest. One unique experience was when the students met a tribal chief and were thanked by a drumming ceremony after the group donated medical supplies.
The living conditions the students were in were very comfortable. The group had home cooked meals three times a day, their laundry done for them, and even had wireless internet. The trip was incredibly memorable to the students. As Ahles explained, “I would absolutely recommend the trip to anyone. It was much more than just a school trip. The different things we got to do besides actually putting up the nets were incredible, and all of the people we met were beyond hospitable and welcoming. I’ve never felt more comfortable or safe.”
