Northern Westchester Community Center Holds Annual Benefit

By the Community Center of Northern Westchester

The Community Center of Northern Westchester will hold its annual Benefit Cocktail Party and Auction on Saturday, October 18, 2014, at St. Matthew’s Fellowship Room, 382 Cantitoe Street (Route 22) in Bedford, New York, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

This year’s benefit theme is Making a Difference Together. The event’s honorees, Sheryl Bernhard and Laura Kaplan, former Center board presidents and longtime friends and supporters of the Center, exemplify how the community, via the Community Center, makes a difference together in the lives of neighbors in need.

In 2013:

Over 1,800 families came to us for help in 2013, 10 times the number that came to the Center in 1992.

We help neighbors in need from more than 37 communities in Northern Westchester.

• 183 tons of food were distributed to families during over 6,982 Food Pantry visits.

• 34% of those who received food from the Center’s Food Pantry are children.

• 87 tons of donated clothes, shoes and linens were distributed during nearly 7,400 visits to our

Clothing Boutique.

• 670 children received new school supplies.

• 747 children received new sleepwear for the holidays.

• More than 900 adults attended classes and workshops to improve their skills.

• Volunteers gave over 50,000 hours of service.

• Over the Center’s 21 years, families have made more than 96,000 visits to our Food Pantry.

Rebecca Roban and Liz Gereghty of Katonah, and Jeff Goodwin and Andy Vitrone, co-owners of Willy Nick’s Restaurant & Bar in Katonah, are the chairs of this year’s event.

Honoree Laura Kaplan summed up her feelings about the Center: “The Center is a magnet for attracting good people with a common purpose: working together to sustain a welcoming, supportive environment committed to the possibilities for improving people’s lives. My wish is that the Center continues to be an inspiration for both clients and volunteers so we can keep making a difference together for years to come.”

Sheryl Bernhard echoed Laura’s sentiments. “This community is incredible in its ability to reach out to those in need in a variety of ways, by looking within themselves and volunteering their gifts: whether it be their time, their talent and/or their resources.”

Tickets are available at communitycenternw.org. To purchase tickets or to make a donation, click here. You can also call the Center at 914-232-6572, x101.

Some of the exciting items for auction include Broadway tickets to the Tony-award winning shows, “The Book of Mormon,” “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder” and “Kinky Boots.” Guests can also bid on a golf outing with a former Rangers player, a private guided tour of The Frick Collection, and a host of great Northern Westchester restaurant experiences. This year, attendees can also take a chance with high end raffle items like the GoPro camera, jewelry and a bicycle.

The auction catalogue will be posted online via the Center’s website: www.communitycenternw.org approximately a week before the event. You can either bid in advance or in real-time during the event.

Since 1992, the Community Center of Northern Westchester has been dedicated to helping neighbors in need by sharing the essentials of living. With the support of 31 Community Partners, and the generosity and volunteer power of residents from all over Northern Westchester, it offers food and clothing, as well as other programs designed to ease the burden of families in need, in 37 communities across Northern Westchester.

PHOTO: Laura Kaplan and Sheryl Bernhard/courtesy Community Center of Northern Westchester