By Donna Ruhanen, Marketing Chair
The Community Fund’s 32nd Annual Golf Outing was held at Siwanoy Country Club on Monday, May 7. The event was a tremendous success, with 124 participants, including players from both grand sponsors, Pepe Auto Group and the Raffiani Family Foundation, and dinner sponsor NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, all enjoying a beautiful day on a fantastic course.
The event grossed over $200,000, enabling The Community Fund and the money raised from its annual fall campaign to provide much-needed grants to nonprofit organizations providing critical services across the Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe communities.
The day kicked off for the golfers with lunch and an exciting qualifying round for the putting competition, followed by a scramble play format, complete with prizes and hole-in-one contests. Thanks to our generous hole-in-one sponsor, Pepe Auto Group, a $10,000 cash prize awaited golfers at one hole, and a choice of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Infiniti, or Cadillac awaited them at the other. Stunning automobiles were also on display, enhancing the beautiful acreage of Siwanoy thanks to Mercedez-Benz of White Plains, Mercedez-Benz of New Rochelle, Porsche of Larchmont, Pepe Cadillac, and Pepe Infiniti.
Although no one was able to make that hole-in-one, which has eluded golfers now for 32 years, there were still plenty of awards to go around. The “first-place winning team” award went to Neal Denning, Jack Mullen, Joe Quartararo, and Scott Bogetti, and the second-place award was taken by the team of Raymond Delsalvio, Mike Doody, John Silvestri, and Bill Carney.
The evening ended with cocktails, dinner, and our annual auction, which offered a tremendous array of prizes. Funds from the golf outing constitute about 20% of the overall revenue The Community Fund raises yearly. Amy Korb, executive director of The Community Fund, stated, “Every year, we are amazed at the outpouring of support for this event. Foursomes sell out in days, sponsors give generously, and attendees make the silent and live auctions an exciting climax to the evening.”
Robert Castano, golf co-chair, added, “Once again, we are grateful for the support of our grand sponsors, Pepe Auto Group and the Raffiani Foundation. Year after year, these two organizations step forward and lead the charge. Thanks to our first-ever dinner sponsor, New York-PresbyterianLawrence Hospital, NYP has quickly become a strong partner of The Community Fund. We also deeply appreciate all the support we receive from a long list of organizations and individuals whose participation is vital to the success of the outing.”
The members of the 2018 golf committee were committee chairs Robert Castano and Kiri Wolfe; honorary committee chairs Chuck and Mark Rollins; wine auction chair Donna Ruhanen; and committee members Tom Andruss, Margaret Colavita, Neal Denning, Judy M. Foley, Thomas Giordano, Frances Harris, Andrew Korb, Peter Lacalamita, Rosetta McArdle, Kevin McNeil, Doug Meyer, Katharine Outcalt, Steven R. Palm, Joe Pepe, Sal Pepe, Laura & Phil Raffiani, Jim Rotenberg, Martin H. Schulman, Tom Sipple, Pirkko Stechler, Frederick H. Taylor, Jeff Ungvary, and Jane Vergari.
The Community Fund provides financial assistance and administrative support to nonprofit organizations whose programs target local residents’ health, education, and welfare needs. Last year, The Community Fund allocated $564,420 to the following agencies and programs supporting the communities of Bronxville, Bronxville 10708, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe: Andrus Early Learning Center, Bereavement Center of Westchester, Bronxville Youth Council, Cancer Support Team, Inc., The Community Flu Shot Program at Lawrence Hospital, The Counseling Center, D.A.R.E., Eastchester & Tuckahoe, Eastchester Community Action Partnership, Eastchester Senior Programs and Services, Eastchester Teen Scene, Eastchester Youth Council–Summer Theatre, Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corps (EVAC), Gramatan Village, Michael Frey Scholarship Awards for Graduating High School Seniors, The Maxwell Institute, The Senior Citizens Council, South East Consortium for Special Services, Tuckahoe Police Youth Initiatives, the Tuckahoe Trolley, Victims Assistance Services, Westchester End of Life Coalition, and Wartburg.
