Volunteer New York! to Stream 40th Annual Volunteer Spirit Awards

Volunteer New York!'s premiere annual benefit, the Volunteer Spirit Awards, which has grown to become the largest volunteer recognition event in our region, will this year become an interactive digitally-streamed event on Tuesday, April 7 at 12:00 P.M. EST via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and volunteernewyork.org/awards. The 600-person Volunteer Spirit Awards breakfast was cancelled at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The virtual Volunteer Spirit Awards experience will honor 6 outstanding Hudson Valley residents who generously donate their time to local nonprofit organizations as they are presented with their respective awards for outstanding volunteer efforts.

“Their accomplishments in so many important local civic, social and environmental endeavors bring pride to our communities and are models for other volunteers to achieve,” says Jane Solnick, Con Edison’s director of Westchester Regional and Community Affairs. Con Edison is the chief sponsor of the event. “We look forward each year to the Volunteer Spirit Award winners because they are proof of how high someone can reach.”

The broadcast’s finale will spotlight the 2020 Legacy Award presentation to the Gallin Family, on behalf of the Volunteer New York! Board of Directors, for their incredible shared passion for giving back to our community through Stars for Cars and Volunteer New York!, among countless other local organizations.

“This one event brings so many people together and stokes the passion for volunteerism that local nonprofits depend on year round, while also being our largest, most critical fundraiser to keeping our own lights on,” says Alisa H. Kesten, Volunteer New York! Executive Director. “It’s important for so many reasons, which is why we are thrilled to be able to offer the Volunteer Spirit Awards to the world at a time when people are longing for a sense of community and the spirit of ‘We can do this if we work together.’ The primary reason to take part in this live community experiment is to give our honorees the moment they deserve—the feeling of a cheering, connected crowd,” Kesten continued. “For the first time we’re not limited by the size of the ballroom. Let’s make some digital noise in support of volunteerism.”

Volunteer New York! plays a vital role supporting social infrastructure any time, but now it is also coordinating Coronavirus response and recovery opportunities to protect the most vulnerable (volunteernewyork.org/VVC) in our region—and providing community volunteers the opportunity to volunteer from home. Since mobilizing the Virtual Volunteer Center on March 18, Volunteer New York! has enjoyed a 50% spike in its website traffic and a 160% increase in the number of connections made as compared to the previous year’s same timeframe. In 2019, the organization inspired more than 26,000 volunteers to give 275,000 hours of service to 500 nonprofits at a value of over $8.7 million.

AND THE 2020 WINNERS ARE (FULL BIOS BELOW):

EDUCATION & LITERACY AWARD: Amy Tietz (New Rochelle resident) for her work with Friends of New Rochelle Public Library.

GOING GREEN AWARD: Gale Pisha (Nanuet resident) for her work with Sierra Club, Lower Hudson Group.

QUALITY OF LIFE AWARD: Ana Yee (White Plains resident) for her work with Gilda’s Club Westchester and White Plains Youth Bureau.

SOCIAL ADVOCACY AWARD: Hector Rodriguez (Yonkers resident) for his work with Rising Ground.

TRANSFORMATION AWARD: Duke Searles (Peekskill resident) for his work with the Montrose VA Food Pantry.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD: Abe Baker-Butler (Rye Brook resident) for his work with Students Against Nicotine and Westchester County Youth Board.

LEGACY AWARD: The Gallin Family

Every year Volunteer New York! selects a recipient for its Legacy Award that goes to a business or civic leader who has made a personal and professional commitment to volunteerism, has significantly supported the values and mission of Volunteer New York!, and who encourages deep employee and community engagement in service.

Previous honorees, now members of the Volunteer New York! Legacy Circle, include Betty Cotton, Markham F. Rollins, III, Matthew G. McCrosson, George Troyano, Geri Shapiro and Albert (Doug) Rogers.

The 2020 Volunteer Spirit Awards Breakfast is just one of the exciting events on Volunteer New York!’s 70th Anniversary Calendar, celebrating their extraordinary 7 decades of impact with an action-packed array of signature community programming. For more info about #VNY70 visit volunteernewyork.org/VNY70.

The Gallin Family is a staple in the New Rochelle community and truly a part of the Volunteer New York! family.

It all started with a young Jake who, at the age of eight, was moved by the statistic that 1% of our nation is serving and protecting the other 99%. That immediately became more than a number as Jake witnessed a Gold Star mother share the pride and pain of the loss of her son who died in Iraq at age 20 while fighting for our country. He quickly looked for a way to help bring attention to support and honor service members and their families.

In partnership with the USO of Metropolitan New York, Jake founded Stars for Cars to raise awareness of the sacrifices that heroic military families make when a loved one is called into service. Jake conceived the design of star-shaped magnetic car decals that state, "We Support Blue Star & Gold Star Military Families" and began to sell them both in person and online. Jake also inspired more students his age and adults across the country to pause three times a year for the 3 Holidays Announcement in schools on or before 9/11, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day to acknowledge the sacrifices made by military families.

Since 2011, Stars for Cars’ activities have spread to all 50 states, and Jake, with the support of his family, has devoted thousands of volunteer hours and raised thousands of dollars for the USO.

It is no surprise that Jake saw a need and immediately sought a way to help. His mother, Ally, and father, Tom, had already been leading by example through their involvement in the community, schools and parish. Ally is an active member of Volunteer New York!'s Board of Directors and she recently served on the New Rochelle Public Library Foundation's 25th Anniversary Gala Committee. Tom is frequently seen biking miles alongside his son, to West Point and back, to raise money and awareness for the USO. You will regularly find the entire family volunteering together at Volunteer New York!'s 9/11 and MLK Community-Wide Days of Service and marching with Stars for Cars in New Rochelle's annual Thanksgiving Parade.

For the Gallins, it is the volunteer hours that matter most. Because as Ally recently shared, "those hours are the centerpiece of our family. It's what we do.”