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The first phase of a great Winter Basketball and Anti-bullying program for 4th to 7th graders has just concluded. Sponsored by our Club, in partnership with the Yonkers Police Athletic League and YMCA, the program met for the last 6 Saturdays of 2018. The last session of the Winter season was celebrated with a Pizza Party and certificates were handed out to the participants.The program is part of the Rotary International Global Grant Project which brought together an amazing partnership of Rotary Clubs and like-minded organizations. Club Member Pete Spano conceived the project and through his persistence and with the help of Past District Governor Janet DiBenedetto received support of a Rotary Club in South Korea. Together, with the fund-raising by the Nancy Lieberman Foundation, the Rotary Foundation provided matching grants for the construction 2 Basketball Courts in Yonkers and organizing 2 programs providing Anti-Bullying training and a Basketball Clinic for young people in Yonkers.
Both Yonkers organizations - the Police Athletic League and the YMCA provided valuable knowledge, and life lessons to the youth in our community. Thanks also to SportsNet New York (SNY) Play Ball for seeing value in what we're doing, and donating basketballs to our program.
The Programs were run by Pete Spano, Tom Meier, Barbara Hanna. Past District Governor Greg Arcaro was a special mentor for the Program. Thanks to all of the parents, coaches, teachers, leaders, mentors, and children that participated.
After months of behind-the-scenes work, getting the young people lined up, informing them about Rotary, Interact and the great potential of Interact, PDG Greg Arcaro and former Club Secretary Peggy Murphy, supported by Sacred Heart High School Faculty Anne Murphy, the Club was officially chartered. Following receipt of all the required paperwork, District Governor Krishnan Chittur approved the application and forwarded it to Rotary International. Rotary International President Barry Rassin signed the Charter on 7 December. 
The first of two outdoor courts in Yonkers will be at Barton Park later this fall with a second basketball court in the works to be rebuilt in the spring of 2019. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be scheduled at the completion of the courts.
Our Club and friends of Rotary, together donated 32 turkeys to the underprivileged children at the Eugenia Maria de Hostos Micro-Society School in Yonkers. Club Member Barbara Hanna was able to get the turkeys at a steep discount from our local ShopRite and deliver them to the School. The recipients of the turkeys were chosen by the teachers and designated as "winners" in a turkey raffle.
On behalf of the Club, Club Past President and District Governor-Elect Mahbub Ahmad, Club Secretary Seeme Asad and Club Rotary Foundation Chair Bina Ahmad, handed over the collected donations of pajamas to the School.
Lauding our Club as one of the vibrant Clubs in the District, DG Kris Chittur commended the past Presidents of the Club for leading the Club to where it is today. He particularly congratulated the Club and Past President Alix Schnee on achieving the Presidential Citation the second year in a row. He was confident that the Club do the same this year. DG Kris also presented the Paul Harris Fellow pins to President-Elect Shahid Latif and Club Rotary Foundation Chair Bina Ahmad, saying contributions to the Rotary International Foundation are extremely important. He emphatically said "it is your money that is feeding a destitute child in India, or sending another child to school in remote Africa or providing clean drinking water to communities in Latin America. It is your money that has brought the world so close to ending Polio".
