Welcome to the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers
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"Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves"
News Stories
Club Honored with US President's Lifetime Achievement Award
Award LifetimeAchievement Rotary YonkersRotary

The Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers, which is now over 101 years old has been recognized by US President Joseph R. Biden with the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, for its lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.

In 2003, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation founded the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity. This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action, too.

The PVSA has continued under each administration, honoring the volunteers who are using their time and talents to solve some of the toughest challenges facing our nation.

The program has two award types - individual and organizational) and four award levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Lifetime Achievement), with required hours varying by age range of the recipient for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold level awards. The Lifetime Achievement Award requires a minimum of 4,000 hours of documented volunteer service.

Led by the AmeriCorps and managed in partnership with Points of Light, this program allows Certifying Organizations to recognize their most exceptional volunteers.  Our Club was nominated by Pamela’s Big Heart Foundation, in Yonkers.

2023 Speech Contest Preparations are on
The Club has announced the launch of its second annual Youth Speech Contest, for all K through 12 youth who live or attend school in Yonkers.  This year's contest will be in partnership with the Historical Society of the New York Courts,
 
The contest provides a challenging way for youth at all grade levels to develop critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and public speaking skills. This year, elementary school contestants will present a three to five-minute speech, based on what their top priority would be if they were the Mayor of Yonkers, and why. Middle school contestants will present a five to seven-minute speech based on the same topic, while high school contestants will present a five to seven-minute speech on what they believe the role of the courts should be either to protect their rights in school or to protect the safety of everyone in the community.
 
The preliminary round will be held asynchronously: students will upload videos of their speeches no later than March 31, 2023, and the speeches will be judged over the following weeks. Three finalists will be selected in each of the elementary, middle, and high school divisions to advance to the final round, which will be held in the Ceremonial Courtroom at Yonkers City Hall on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Each of the finalists will receive a plaque and a cash prize. All contestants will receive a certificate for participating in the contest. There is no fee to participate.
 
Those interested in learning more about the contest may sign up for more information via the Online Registration Form, below online at or email SpeechContest@YonkersRotary.org. Questions may be sent to Contest Coordinator, Rotarian Alan Gray at SpeechContest@YonkersRotary.org. Additional information will be posted on this website in the coming days and can also be found on the Historical Society of the New York Courts's website at https://history.nycourts.gov/speech-contest/.
 
 
Club Achieves Presidential Citation
Our Club has achieved the 2020-21 Rotary Presidential Citation - the highest Rotary honor for a Club and we've done for six years in a row..  The award was announced by 2021-22 District Governor George McKinnis in a letter to 2021-22 President Steve Simpson and members of the Club. 
 
The Presidential Citation is awarded to a Club that achieves a at least 13  of preassigned goals in 5 categories - membership growth and retention, contributions to the Rotary Foundation, service projects, Young leaders. and augmenting Rotary's public image. Our Club is only one of eleven out of the 48 Clubs in our District to achieve the Presidential Citation for 2021-22,
 
Past District Governor George congratulated President Steve for this stellar achievement.  He said, "During a year that was challenging for many Rotarians around the world, your Club, under your dynamic leadership, demonstrated a commitment to achieve these goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future."  PDG George  thanked all members of the Club for their diligent work in bringing the honor to not only their Club but also to the District. 
Club's First Car Show is a great Success
Our Club's first Car show was a resounding sucess both in terms of attendance and in terms of raising funds for our Club projects.  The show was held at the Westchester County Center Mall in Yonkers on the rain date June 26.  There were not only antique cars  classics, exotics, hot rods and the like but also food trucks, vendors, Vendors and 50/50 raffle.
 
Organized in collaboration with the City of Yonkers and the Cross County Center, the Car Show saw many attendees from all over the county and beyond.  The funds raised will go towards scholarships for Yonkers students as well as other Club projects.
 
Car Show
Final Round of Speech Contest
The final round of the Yonkers Rotary Youth Speech Contest will be on Wednesday 27 April.  Three finalists will complete for the top prize.  They will be scored by 5 judges.  Mayor Spano is expected to be present at the event.at 6:15 pm at The Fairways at Dunwoodie in Yonkers.
 
16 students participated across three days in the preliminary round. Each student’s speech was scored by three judges. All high school grades (9 through 12) were represented by those students.  The three finalists who will be speaking at the final round are all sophomores (Class of 2024) (in
alphabetical order):
• Brieanna Boateng, Riverside High School
• Diamond Krigger, Charter School of Educational Excellence High School
• Adrina Tiju, Yonkers Middle High School
 
To participate in this contest, students had to exercise several different skills. First, they had to use their critical thinking skills to formulate a response to the contest topic. Next, they had to use their research skills to find information about their contemplated response. Then, they had to use their writing skills in order to craft a speech that, they thought, would be effective. Fourth, they had to use their public speaking skills to practice how they would deliver their speech in a meaningful and impactful manner. Finally, of course, they had to use their self-confidence and self-esteem – no matter how much they practiced, it’s always very different practicing by oneself or with close friends and family than it is when delivering a speech to a live audience!
Club to Sponsor Youth Speech Contest (updated)
Contest YonkersRotary Youth
The Club has announced the launch of its first annual Youth Speech Contest for youth who live in Yonkers enrolled in grades 9 to 12.
 
The contest provides a challenging way for youth in grades 9 through 12 to develop critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and public speaking skills. This year, participants will present a five-minute speech based on what they would like to see improved in Yonkers and why.
 
Youth interested in participating in the contest may register either online (available here) or by sending by email, a completed registration form (available here) to Contest Coordinator and Rotarian Alan Gray at alangrayjr@gmail.com. The deadline for registering for the contest is March 11, 2022. There is no fee to register.
 
A preliminary round of judging will be held on March 28, 29, and 30, 2022 at 5 p.m. at the Yonkers Riverfront Library. The preliminary round will be held via Zoom if circumstances so require.
 
Three finalists will be selected by a panel of judges to advance to the final round. The final round will be held at the Club's meeting at 6:15 p.m. on April 27, 2022. Each of the three finalists will receive a plaque and a cash prize: $500 for first place; $300 for second place; and, $200 for third place.
 
Questions may be sent to Contest Coordinator and Rotarian Alan Gray at alangrayjr@gmail.com
 
Club Donates Books to Yonkers Library
The Club has donated over 200 hardcover books to the Riverfront Library in Yonkers.  September was Rotary's Education and Literacy month during which Rotarians are urged to undertake projects that expand education and literacy opportunities across communities.  The donated books are from the personal collection of Vice-President and Area Governor Bina Ahmad and Past District Governor Mahbub Ahmad.  Five Club Rotarians were present at the handing over of the books to the Director of the Library Sandy Amoyaw, who is also the Club Historian and a long-time Club Member,  In addition to the two donors, Lawrence Farah and Anissa Latif also helped with unloading the books.,
 
The Director of Yonkers Public Libraries Jesse Montero was a guest speaker at our Club meeting on 27 September.  He said the Library system was looking to expand its' holdings to cater to a wider audience.  Accepting the books, Director of the Riverfront Library, Sandy Amoyaw thanked AG Bina and PDG Mahbub for their thoughtful donation.  He said the books will help expand the breadth of the holdings of the Library and may be shared with the other branches of the Yonkers Library system.  AG Bina said most of the books were collected over a period of years for their home library which they are now downsizing.  PDG Mahbub said the books in a large library will be available to many more readers rather than just beautifying a small home library.  Most of the books are contemporary fiction, including sets by authors, John Grisham, Lawrence Sanders, Clive Cussler, Robin Cook, and others as well as classics.  This is the Club's third donation of books to the Yonkers Libraries,  Earlier donations were to the Will Library and the Riverfront Library.
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Yonkers, NY 10710
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Club Executives & Directors
President
Timothy Hodges
Vice President
Aura Latif
President Elect
Timothy Hodges
President-Nominee
George John
Secretary
Gregory Arcaro
Treasurer
Mayra Tepan
Immediate Past President
Steve Simpson
At-Large
Maria Abdullah
At-Large
Mahbub Ahmad
Club Rotary Foundation Chair
Mahbub Ahmad
Sergeant-at-Arms
Philippe Charles
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We work with groups and organizations of all sizes to accomplish even more. St. Johns Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, is the host of our Annual Pancake Breakfast

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Discover and celebrate diverse perspectives with a global organization.  Yonkers Peace Corps Volunteer is in Costa Rica with books from our Club to the kids.