Health & Fitness
Thursday Club Raises $100,000 to Help Support Activities for Children From Low-Income Families
A check for $100,000 was presented on May 23, 2013 by the Thursday Club to CLUSTER, a nonprofit agency headquartered in Yonkers whose services include conducting educational and recreational programs for children from low-income families. The event was the 90th in the club's benefit series.
CLUSTER was selected as the 2013 Thursday Club beneficiary in recognition of its ability "to help people having a wide variety of needs,” said Mary Beth Merryman, President of the Thursday Club.
The donated funds were raised through admission charges and multiple auctions at an annual benefit dinner-dance held at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor on April 27.
Irvington residents Marilyn Dimling and Barbara Bunaes served as co-chairs for the benefit.
“Besides allowing us to serve more children in after-school programs, the monies raised will enhance children’s learning experience with additional academic assistance, enrichment activities and access to computers after school,” said CLUSTER Executive Director Toni Volchok.
The newly raised funds support:
- After-school academic and enrichment programs for children in kindergarten through 6th grade
- Attendance by more than 100 children from low income and homeless families at a six-week summer day camp.
- Study Buddies, a youth leadership development program that prepares teens for college and careers and trains them to mentor younger children who participate in CLUSTER after school programs.
The Thursday Club was founded in 1921; it selects a different recipient or more than one recipient each year for funding. The recipients of its philanthropy are usually providers of social services or health care, or are civic, cultural or environmental organizations.
In recent years, Thursday Club beneficiaries have included the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, Tarrytown Music Hall, Phelps Hospital, the Irvington Historical Society, and last year, Groundwork Hudson Valley.
The Thursday Club, P.O. Box 26, Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY 10503.
