Rotary Club of Larchmont Honors Students

POSTED:JANUARY 2012

The Rotary Club of Larchmont presented its annual Blum Award to Emma Loebel and Rebecca Ward, two seniors from Mamaroneck High School (MHS), for their exceptional contribution to the Larchmont/Mamaroneck community, by creating “The Clothes Closet.”

The goal of the Blum Award is to recognize students from MHS who unselfishly and creatively make a difference in their community(s), thus exemplifying the Rotary Principle of “Service Above Self.” The award was presented on December 2nd.

The Clothes Closet, begun in 2009, has become an official club at MHS. Emma and Rebecca began with posters and PR publicizing the initiative. They established drop-off locations at local merchants on Palmer Avenue where “gently-used clothing” was collected. A distribution date was scheduled. The CAP Center on Center Street in Mamaroneck was set up for families to come and “shop” for free clothing. In April, 2011, the third year The Clothes Closet held the event, more than 120 families participated, choosing from 13,000 pieces of clothing of all types and sizes.
Any non-distributed clothing is taken to the White Plains Homeless Shelter and to a local Mamaroneck free-clothing outlet.

Emma and Rebecca also contribute their time and energy to other service projects, including the coat drive for Mamaroneck Avenue School and furniture drive for the Furniture Sharehouse.
Marian White, Chairperson for the Blum Award said: “The Blum Award was begun by the Rotary Club of Larchmont and Max J. Blum’s widow, Helene L. Blum, after Max’s death in 1985. It represents Max’s commitment to encouraging and acknowledging youth in our community, of which Emma and Rebecca are excellent examples.”

Christopher Cassese, President, noted: “Presenting the Blum Award to these truly selfless young women (and by extension to the other 33 members of their club) is just one example of the way Rotary Club of Larchmont dedicates itself to the needs of our community. Since our founding in 1929, we have continuously performed and supported public service and humanitarian projects locally, regionally and globally.”

The Rotary Club of Larchmont meets every Friday at the Larchmont Yacht Club, often featuring speakers who present information of interest to the community and Club members. Guests are welcome any Friday. Interested individuals may simply come to a Friday meeting or call Stephen Bartell at 914-833-8683. See detailed meeting schedule at www.rotarylarchmont.org.

Rotary International has over 1.2 million members in 34,000 clubs in 200 nations, worldwide.

Photo caption: Emma Loebel (left) and Rebecca Ward, Rotary Club of Larchmont Blum Award winners for 2011, honored by Christopher Cassese, President, and Marian White, Blum Award Committee Chairperson, at the Club’s weekly meeting, December 2nd, 2011.

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