Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Briarcliff Manor participated in the second phase of the "Outreach Program" organized by our Rotary District on Saturday, November 15, 2013. Hundreds of volunteers, including scores of children who were Rotarians's children/grandchildren, girl scouts, or members of churches or community organizations, gathered at the White Plains High School to prepare packaged food for the needy.
Among those volunteers were Rotarian Scott Lanoff, a director of the Rotary Club of Briarcliff Manor, with his family. Beaming with pride and joy with Scott and his wife, Mindy Lanoff, were their two children, Samuel Lanoff (13), and Alex Lanoff (9). Both children attend Briarcliff schools, and were thrilled to participate in this effort to lend a helping hand to the needy. "My favorite part of the event was to see how funny my brother looked in a hair-net," said Alex.
Also present were, once again, Rotarian President Anne Cargill and Immediate Past President Kris Chittur of the Club.
“Outreach” is a program to distribute volunteer-packed meals - made in the USA, Kosher and Halal, and meeting US safety and nutritional guidelines - to feed the hungry in our own area.
The District wide project was organized by Rotary Clubs here. In a scene resembling food factories producing packaged meals found regularly in supermarkets and grocery stores, volunteers donned hair-nets, aprons, and gloves to work in teams assembling packages of Macaroni & Cheese or Rice & Beans.
In phase 1 of this program held on October 19, 2013, volunteers packaged 48,000 meals. This second phase resulted in packaging of an additional 60,000 meals to feed the needy in this District, which includes Westchester, the Bronx and Manhattan. Each Rotary club was able to distribute the meals in their neighborhood to pantries, soup kitchens, school backpack programs or any other program addressing the hungry in their backyards. The Briarcliff Rotary donated its contribution to the Ossining Food Pantry.
The Lanoffs' participation highlighted that Rotary Projects can involve the entire family, and give children the opportunity further the Rotary ideal of "Service above self" and serve community needs. In addition, the meal packaging gave a good experience of teamwork, of selfless service, of an activity involving the entire family, and having fun - all at the same time - a quintessential example of "quality family time"!
