The Joy of - Inside Chappaqua

36 Inside Chappaqua May 2013
H A P P E N I N G S
MHA’s 5K Run/Walk: A Feel Good Way to Do Good
It’s time to lace up
your sneakers and head
outside for a great
cause. The Mental
Health Association of
Westchester’s MHA on
the move 5K Run/Walk
and 1 Mile Kids’ Race
will take place on Sunday,
May 5 from 8 a.m.
to noon at FDR State
Park. Parking is free.
The Run/Walk is an
inspiring, fun, familyfriendly
communitywide
event in support of mental health
initiatives in Westchester.
Lou Young of WCBS-TV, and Miss
Hudson Valley 2013, Jessica Pinckney,
have signed on to cheer on participants
and award the medals. Yorktown
Heights native, singer Jessica Lynn,
will be entertaining before and after
the race. Children get their own fun
warm-up and 1-Mile Kids’ Race (ages
4-12) plus ribbons for each runner.
Everyone gets healthy food and a
fun morning. All participants receive
a free t-shirt. The race will be timed by
the Taconic Road Runners with medals
awarded in each age category as well as
overall top male/female.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
FDR State Park
2957 Crompound Road
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
is a proud sponsor of
MHA on the move Run/Walk
5K Run/Walk &
1-Mile Kidsʼ Race
Rain or Shine!
8:00am-9:45pm: Check-in
9:00am: 1 Mile Kidsʼ Race
9:45am: 5K Run/Walk
Fun for the whole family Move for mental health!
Register Now! www.mhawestchester.org
For more info, call 914-345-5900 x7511
The Mental Health Association of Westchester
580 White Plains Road • Suite 510 • Tarrytown, NY 10591
www.mhawestchester.org
MHA is a community-based mental
health agency that has been helping
Westchester County residents for 67
years through direct services, professional
and community education and
advocacy.
MHA supports 20,000 individuals
annually through a comprehensive array
of mental health services striving
to help each individual to achieve their
personal goals and to lead independent,
healthy and successful lives.
To register for the event or for more
information, visit mhawestchester.org
“A Little Mozart”
The Chappaqua Orchestra will present pianist Cynthia
Peterson, soprano Leigh Folta, tenor Alan Briones, and
bass John Dominick in A Little Mozart as part of The
Chappaqua Orchestra’s orchestral concert series. The concert
will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 3:00 PM at
the Horace Greeley High School Auditorium, Chappaqua,
New York.
The concert features music Mozart wrote mostly in his
teenage years, including excerpts from his third opera (written when he was
11!), Bastien and Bastienne, Concerto for piano and orchestra, no. 9, in E flat
Major (known as the “Jeunnehomme,” or appropriately, the “young man”), and
his masterful 29th Symphony. For info, go to chappaquaorchestra.org.
Millwood’s First Annual “Tails to Trails”
Sunday May 19, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Pet Fair at Millwood Animal Hospital:
Then Enjoy the North County Trailway
Sponsored by Millwood Animal Hospital & Drugmart
in partnership with the Chappaqua-Millwood
Chamber of Commerce: Benefiting Pets Alive Westchester
Serving
Sandy Hook
Families
“I would do it again in a heartbeat
if it would help these families heal.”
Those words come from Abresha
Sinanaj, an Ardsley-based mother of
three kids (ages 16, 14 and 9) and a
busy manager/host and spouse of
one owner at Benjamin Steakhouse in
White Plains.
Abresha and the
partners of this relative
newcomer to Westchester
had generously arranged
for 26 gift certificates
to be donated
Abresha Sinanaj
to the family members
of the victims lost. It was part of a love
filled winter evening in which many
Westchester moms gathered at Benjamin’s
to raise an additional $1,828 in
donations for The Sandy Hook School
Support Fund. The donations were
presented to honorary guest Robert
Merola, Legislative Council Member of
Newtown, CT.
Since that evening, one of the families
from Sandy Hook has come to dine
at Benjamin’s. “The one family who did
come wrote to us telling us they felt
like they were treated like royalty,” she
said. She recalled one of the parents
telling her that their young daughter’s
favorite food was steak. “That was
heartbreaking for me to hear but we
were also so glad we could provide a
pleasant evening out.”
Abresha said that providing the
gift cards was a small gesture in her
view, and she is hopeful more of the
families will come to dine at Benjamin’s
when they feel ready. “I live in a small
community too and simply can not
imagine these terrible losses. Sandy
Hook has become my community too.
As a mother, I feel a connection to all
the parents there and it was extremely
painful to hear about precious young
lives lost. I wish the families their
continued healing and we are here to
still offer a fine, complimentary meal.”
For Mother’s Day, especially, Abresha
stated that she hopes Benjamin Steakhouse
will have the honor of serving
another family from Sandy Hook.
“We are here.” –Grace Bennett