Vincent Renda, Gert McDonald and Joe Conley (Photo: Courtesy of Sunnyside/Woodside Boys & Girls Club)
May 27, 2012 By Christian Murray
The Sunnyside Woodside Boys & Girls Club held its 2nd annual “recognizing leaders” fundraiser on Saturday May 19, drawing a crowd of about 100 attendees.
The club, which is expected to net about $6,000 from the event, honored four women who have working to improve the neighborhood for decades. The event was held at St. Raphael School’s gymnasium.
“We are here to recognize four great leaders,” Vincent Renda, the chairman of the Sunnyside Woodside Boys & Girls Club, said at the event. “Tonight sets the pathway to pass the torch to future generations so we thank these ladies very much.”
The four recipients of the award were:
Frances Schmidt, an active member of the Sunnyside Woodside Lions Club, Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, SunnysideArtists.org. and the Queen of Angels Church;
Sister Maureen Ahlemeyer, the principal at St Raphael School, which is about to close;
Carol Masiello, a substance abuse counselor at IS125 and the president of the Kiwanis Club of Sunnyside;
Gert McDonald, a Community Board 2 member, member of St. Raphael Parish and active participant at Sunnyside Community Services.
Each received a plaque that read: “For transforming our neighborhood into a better place and for rising beyond the ordinary to be extraordinary.”
The club, established in 2010, offers 11-to-14 year olds a recreation program at St Teresa’s gymnasium on Friday nights—and a dancing/acting program at Sunnyside Reformed Church on Saturdays. Last year, the club covered the cost for a number of children to attend summer camp at the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria.
The club plans to use the proceeds from the event to expand its program to a 5-days-per week and send about 40 children to the summer camp in Astoria this year.
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One Comment
Thank you all, for all you do. And thanks to the club for recognizing the enormous effort it takes to make a neighborhood work.