Welcome to the Volunteer Opportunities Section

Destination: Haiti . . .  Mission: Build Six Homes

January 20, 2012
by Hugh Sigmon

We all have the natural tendency to block out horrible news, political strife and economic corruption. We think: What can I, one person, do?  Well, there is something you can do to help.  It may be a very simple, two-home duplex — 14 by 20 feet, poured concrete and block walls with a metal roof — but if you and your family have been living in a makeshift tent city for two years, it is a dream come true.

Read More

SUNDAY: Greeley football community is “Making Headway” for children with Walkathon

walkathon
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
by Kathy Rothschild

The fifth annual Greeley Football Walkathon in support of the Making Headway Foundation will take place on Sunday, October 16, 2011, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Horace Greeley High School track.

Read More

NEW:Millwood and Chappaqua trucks convoy north with 60,000 pounds of goods for Upstate flood victims

relief effort
More in Photo Gallery
Monday, September 12, 2011
by Christine Yeres

An outpouring of concern for Upstate New Yorkers ruined by Hurricane Irene manifested itself in a steady stream last Friday and Saturday of household goods, food, clothing, and school supplies to collection points at the Millwood Fire Station #1 and the farmers market at the train station in downtown Chappaqua.

Read More

NEW: Dawn’s Ray of Hope all-nighter raises $7,000

Dawn
See night game photos “Read more….” and in Photo Gallery
Monday, September 12, 2011
by Christine Yeres

“The nicest thing was that we did what we planned to do,” said Michael Wolfensohn (of Dawn’s Team).  “As the last game ended it was dawn.”

Read More

THIS WEEKEND: Softball all-nighter “Dusk to Dawn”

Dawn
See game schedule and an update from John Re in “Read more…”
September 2, 2011
by Christine Yeres

A softball all-nighter in memory of Dawn Re, who was a tireless fun-raiser for fund-raising against cancer will take place under the lights at the rec field on Saturday, September 3, starting at 7:00 p.m. and end at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, September 4. Called “Dusk to Dawn,” the event offers a night of co-ed softball, with wood bats and 16-inch Chicago-style softballs.  Play an existing team or put together a team for the night.  Need help forming a team?  Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and the organizers will find one for you.

Read More

Girl Scouts Mount Blood Drive THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 5, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

blood
Rebecca Schelling thanks her mom for donating!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
by Meaghan Townsend and Catherine Bilodeau
Chappaqua Girl Scout Troop 1023

Please donate blood this Saturday!  Supplies are at a critically low level after our challenging winter prevented some blood collections.  Girl Scouts from Troop 1023 are working with the New York Blood Center to organize a blood drive that will take place on March 5, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the New Castle Town Hall.

Read More

Going undercover for Fair Housing: My James Bond-esque moment

Monday, February 7, 2011
by Name Withheld

Editor’s note: The name of the individual who wrote this first-hand account is being withheld so as to allow him to continue this work. As editor weighing the relevant considerations, I have concluded that the balance in this instance between disclosure and sharing this experience with the community tips in favor of disseminating the information. SGP

Read More

Westchester non-profit reports on recent findings regarding housing discrimination

Monday, February 7, 2011
by Andrea Klausner

Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. (WRO) is a nonprofit housing counseling agency founded in 1968 to promote equal, affordable and accessible housing in our region.

Read More

Charity ALERT: Blankets for Haitians suffering from cholera, LAST DAY for drop-off

Collecting today through Friday, Dec. 17
blankets
December 17, 2010
by Charlotte Bilski and Victoria Blumenfeld

Today is the last day for drop-off of blankets of all kinds, to be sent to Haitian victims of cholera.  Please drop them in the boxes outside Greeley’s Guidance Office.

Read More

Charity ALERT


Friday, December 3, 2010

The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry still has an urgent need for shelf-stable milk: Parmalat, Hershey’s or the A&P brand that is non-refrigerated.

Read More

NEW: Team Amy Have-a-Chance Brain Tumor Walk This Sunday, October 17


October 15, 2010
by Chrissie Crabtree

Hello Everyone!
Just a couple of reminders:  We would like our friends and neighbors to join us this Saturday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m., for the dedication of our beautiful new garden, designed and planted in loving memory of Amy Crabtree.  Light hors d’oeuveres and sparkling wine will be served. 

Remember, the Have-a-Chance Brain Tumor walk is this Sunday, October 17 at 9:45 a.m. in Battery Park in New York City.
 As always, here’s the link to our main website, in case you’re feeling generous this afternoon: TeamAmyDonate2010.

Read More

Get out and enjoy the weather on your bike while raising money for the Lung Cancer Alliance

July 2, 2010
by Judy Ward

Scenic Dutchess County, New York, will be the scene this weekend of the fourth annual Chappaqua-based bike-a-thon to support the Lung Cancer Alliance. Participants in the bike-a-thon, to be held on Sunday, July 4, will ride either a 15 or 30-mile course through rolling farmland one hour north of Chappaqua. Non-cyclists can opt to join the festivities just for lunch at 11:30 a.m.  Advance registration is required, and will be accepted through Saturday, July 3.  To view the flyer, click HERE

Read More

Dr. Flank honored for 65 years of scouting leadership


June 11, 2010
by Peter Applebome

Many generations of middle and high school kids in Chappaqua have learned a few things from Bill Flank.

They’ve learned the Zen of wool socks and how to do the J stroke in a canoe. Over blazing fires in the woods, they’ve taken in many chapters of Lenni Lenape Indian lore. If they needed help with calculus or chemistry, he was around to offer it. He’s taught them what to bring and what not to bring on a hike, how to cook various elemental wilderness stews, the mysteries of the square knot, bowline and clove hitch and other essentials of the Boy Scout canon. He’s impressed upon them the perils of hypothermia, the importance of the bear bag, how to handle a knife and why you shouldn’t handle an ax, and the assorted near-death experiences that can confront the unwitting or careless canoer or hiker.

Read More

Letter to the Editor: Thanks to the community from the Chappaqua Fire Department

May 21, 2010
by Paul Eiden

Read More

Letter to the Editor: Thanks to our firefighters

May 21, 2010
by Suzanne and Jay Keay

Read More

Help Prevent Child Abuse: Become a Parent Aide

The Child Abuse Prevention Center of NY Announces Fall Volunteer Training Dates; Learn Important Social Skills While Helping and Empowering Parents at Risk
January 13, 2012

The Child Abuse Prevention Center of New York, located in White Plains, is calling for Parent Aide Volunteers to assist parents “at risk” for abusing their children. No prior experience is necessary and volunteers are welcome from throughout Westchester and surrounding Counties. UPDATE Tues. Jan. 17: If you schedule an orientation before January 21, you’ll be in time to attend two Saturday training sessions on January 21 and 28.

Read More

“A Tree Grows in Pleasantville,” Cottage School January 7 fundraiser at Temple Beth El

Cottage School
December 30, 2011
by Marci Garson

When I first met Darnell,* his dark eyes darted downward as he politely shook my hand. His social worker told me that avoiding eye contact is a defense mechanism for this troubled 11 year-old.

Read More

Giving Opportunities, Close-up and Personal


December 9, 2011

Editor’s Note: New Castle’s residents are inventive and generous.  This time of year, consider either contributing dollars to these many home-grown organizations that enrich our lives (or make life possible)—or give them the gift of you, by joining them.  Or do both!  Here’s a list now, at year’s end, with which to start up something beautiful.  Feel free to add to our list in “Comments.”

Read More

SUNDAY: The Gift of Life: Blood Drive at Temple Beth El Sunday, Dec. 18, 8am to 2pm

Monday, December 12, 2011
by Stu Berg and Gene Nadel

We hope that you are available, willing and able to roll up your sleeve for what will be a holiday “Gift of Life”!  Temple Beth El’s Fall Blood Drive will take place at the Temple on 220 South Bedford Road this Sunday, December 18th from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Read More

Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance held its first community-wide CPR training; next is Jan. 29

cpr
Sign up for the January 29 class
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
by Lisa Ballou

The Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CVAC) held its first American Heart Association “Family and Friends” CPR course at the CVAC headquarters. More than 40 eager parents, babysitters, teachers and other New Castle neighbors learned how to help save lives using mannequins, defibrillators and breathing devices. The 1.5-hour course is open to the New Castle community.

Read More

NEW: Girl Scouts really deliver!

gs
See more photos of the day (and prep before) in “Read more…” and Photo Gallery.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
by Linda McGetrick

If you were driving around Chappaqua on Veterans Day last Friday, you may have noticed a lot of green clad girls frantically running up to houses carrying wonderful packages full of goodies.  No, it wasn’t an alien invasion; it was Veteran’s Day in Chappaqua.

Read More

Chappaqua soccer players collecting cereal to feed the hungry in Westchester

food bank
November 11, 2011
by Mary Whalen

This weekend, November 13-14, Chappaqua soccer players and their friends and families will be teaming up with the Food Bank for Westchester for their third annual cereal drive to help feed hungry families right here in our own community.

Read More

NEW: 2nd Annual Great Chappaqua Bake Sale for “Share Our Strength”

bake
September 30, 2011
by Allison, Glenn, Charlotte and Sophia Spiegel

We hope to see you this Saturday, October 1st between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at 1 South Greeley Avenue (next to Chappaqua Framing) for The Second Annual Great Chappaqua Bake Sale benefiting Share Our Strength in the fight against childhood hunger.

Read More

Hey!  On his way to the South Pole, “Pat Farmer Slept Here”

farmer
In “Read more…” see YouTube of Farmer setting out from the Chappaqua Train Station.
June 17, 2011
by Christine Yeres

After dining late at the Quaker Hill Tavern Monday night with his entourage of 15 that included two young children, Pole-to-Pole running man Pat Farmer and his crew left to hit the hay.  They drove down the hill to camp out in their trailers at the Chappaqua Train Station until morning. 

Read More

Be a host family for two weeks this summer and make a great friend for life!

front
Photo by Barbara Julius
May 6, 2011
by Diane Albert

This summer, like every summer for the last 43 years, 22 bright, college-bound New York City high school students will leave the hot, noisy city and come to bucolic Chappaqua for July, where they will live with host families during the week as they attend classes. They return to their own families in the City on the weekend.

Read More

NEW: Letter to the Editor: Community Benefit Jazz Concert to help Japan this Sunday, May 1

jazz
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
by Kazuko Ono

When the horrific news of the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation plant failures in Japan arrived at our home, I felt inadequate and overwhelmed. A few local friends called to ask about our family and friends in Japan and ask what they could do.

Read More

Open Letter to the Millwood Community from your volunteer firefighters . . .

. . . We protect your lives with ours. Vote YES on April 12 to fund the new Millwood Fire House
Monday, April 4, 2011
From the Volunteers of the Millwood Fire Company # 1

Read More

Greeley Boys Swim Team finish second in Sectionals

krosser
Monday, February 21, 2011
by Jared Krosser

The Greeley Boys’ Swim Team swam their way in to a second place finish at Sectionals, beating 24 teams yet finishing just behind Tappan Zee.

Read More

Valentine “Thank You” to Greeley Class of 1960 and Rotary Club from H.G. Scholarship Fund

Students in need will feel the love from Class of 1960
krim
HGSF President Elaine Krim goes to the bank with the $8,000 check from the Class of 1960 and the Rotary Club of Chappaqua.
Monday, February 14, 2011

Editor’s Note: At the Rotary’s Annual Charter Night Celebration on January 29, the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund accepted a check for $8,000, the result of a special auction held at the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1960 last October and matched by Rotarians.  See “HGHS Class of 1960 saunters down Memory Lane, helps put others on the road to college.” A thank you note from HGSF follows.

Read More

Red Cross reports lowest January blood supply in a decade: Donate now, please

Monday, January 31, 2011

Editor’s note: This is a reprint of a press release from the local Red Cross office in White Plains, N.Y.

Severe winter weather throughout much of the eastern half of the United States in recent weeks has caused the cancellation of more than 14,000 blood and platelet donations through the American Red Cross.

Read More