Harrison Senior to Receive Youth Award

The following article was contributed.

Ten Westchester high school seniors, who have shown exceptional commitment to their local communities of Bronxville, Dobbs Ferry, Hawthorne, Mount Vernon, Scarsdale, Verplanck, West Harrison and Yorktown Heights, have been selected as recipients of the Westchester County Youth Board’s 2012 Milly Kibrick Youth Service Awards, County Executive Robert P. Astorino announced Friday.

Jake Lerner, a senior at Harrison High School, is among the 10 students, who will be honored at a dinner Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Davenport Club, 400 Davenport Ave., New Rochelle. The students will receive various gifts and a plaque.

The Milly Kibrick Youth Service Awards are given in memory of Milly Kibrick, aprominent county social worker and youth activist, who dedicated her life to helping underprivileged children. During her career and in retirement, she was the quintessential socialworker, social entrepreneur, volunteer and political activist, pursuing social and economic justice for children of all ages.

“Milly selflessly devoted her life to helping underprivileged children and was the driving force in many campaigns for the youth of Westchester County. She made a lasting impact on ourcommunity,” said Astorino. “The honorees for the 2012 Milly Kibrick Service Awards emulate Milly’s giving spirit. Their work in their communities has touched the lives of many individuals. At a young age they have managed to accomplish great things.”

The aim of the Youth Board’s awards program is to recognize high school seniors of theClass of 2013 who have been involved in building a flourishing, strong and compassionatecommunity through individual efforts and actions.

Jacob is the President of his temple’s ‘Youth Group’ and oversees all of the programs they work with such as the ‘Kids Kloset’ (of which he is chairman), ‘AFYA’, ‘Breast Cancer Walk’ and ‘Midnight Run’. He is also a peer leader, where he has had specific training in working with adolescent teens and creating activities to help teens learn about making good choices in life and their religion.

Jacob is the president of the ‘Youth Volunteers of Harrison’. He also volunteers at the Port Chester Carver Center, an after school organization that provides mentors and tutors for Port Chester youth, and created clothing drives for both the ‘Midnight Run’, and a clothing drive for the ‘Kids Kloset’, who collect clothing for Westchester teens living under the poverty line. Jacob also volunteers with the Harrison High School ‘Peer Leadership’ program where faculty select students to serve as mentors, facilitating and creating team building exercises within the school, and run activities for incoming sixth graders into the middle school and freshmen into the high school.

He also works as a teacher’s assistant and manages the office at his local temple, Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester.