Doing Good for the Pawling Resource Center
By Susan Stone and Medina Khalil
On May 11th, Keller Williams Real Estate, and fifteen volunteers from their Baldwin Place office, led by realtors Vera Karaqi and Joseph Pasciolla, chose the Pawling Resource Center as the recipient of their day of service on Red Day, their day each year to give back. According to the Keller Williams Red Day website, “Since May of 2009 our entire company – from the U.S. and Canada to our family abroad – sets aside the second Thursday of the month to renew, energize, and donate within the communities we serve.”
The team was supervised by Pawling’s own George Apap, who generously gave of his time and expertise, donating all paint and supplies for this giving-back day. Mr. Apap also stayed at the PRC the entire day to help the volunteers of Keller Williams Realty by guiding them, and even contributing to the work himself. In fact, according to Resource Center Executive Director Olga Brandenberger, “Mr. Apap went above and beyond, not just donating supplies and his professional time to oversee the team as they painted, but he came back the next day to make sure all was well. The entire experience was amazing.”
Additionally, the Pawling Rotary Club participated in Rotary’s National Day of Service on Saturday, May 20th with an organized community effort to collect toiletries for the Pawling Resource Center. This event, coordinated by Pawling’s club, was held in partnership with Pawling CVS and local student organizations, including Team Community at Pawling Elementary School, National Junior Honor Society at Pawling Middle School, and National Honor Society at Pawling High School, who made colorful collection boxes. These boxes were then manned by students for the weeks leading up to this National Day of Service.
Members of Pawling Rotary gathered on May 20th outside of CVS at 26 East Main Street, to collect toiletries from the wider community. The Rotarians who volunteered their time or materials were Scott Shafer, Medina Khalil, Coleen Snow, Laurie Spens, John Ammaturo, Susan Stone, Lori Johnson, Stefan Gramenz and Kim Fontana, school Superintendent and Rotary chair of the event. The volunteers and those who donated were undaunted by the rain, as evidenced by the overflowing boxes by the event’s end. When asked why this event means so much to her, Ms. Fontana shared, “Everyone in Pawling, from the students to Rotary, to all our community members, recognize the important work the Pawling Resource Center does to support our students and families. It is wonderful to see the community working together to support the PRC’s work.”
