Junior League of Bronxville Awards Scholarships and Grants
May 25, 2025: The Junior League of Bronxville (JLB) awarded seven grants to local non-profit organizations and five scholarships to young women heading to college. To commend these grant and scholarship recipients, the JLB hosted its annual Service & Scholarship Celebration on April 30, 2025.
The JLB Community Grants Program partners with 501(c)(3) organizations benefiting its service area of Bronxville, Eastchester, Mount Vernon, Tuckahoe, and Yonkers. The grants met immediate and specific needs within these communities. The League would like to thank Meredith Dixon for chairing our 2024-2025 Grants Advisory Council and Denise Connolly for chairing our 2024-2025 Scholarships Advisory Council.
This year, the JLB provided funding for the following organizations and projects:
-Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westchester: BioBus mobile science lab event designed to spark interest in STEM for youth from underrepresented communities;
-Boys & Girls Club, Mount Vernon: air fryer to provide healthy meals at their after- school program;
-Cancer Support Team: new office furniture;
-Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corp: bicycles to provide rapid emergency access to areas at events where larger vehicles cannot easily gain access;
-The Picture House: sensory screening movie experiences for neurodivergent individuals:
-Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE): 3D printers for after-school college zone; and
-Youth Community Outreach Program (Y-COP): enhancement and reconfiguration of community garden.
The JLB also awarded five scholarships to inspiring college-bound women.
Kimorah Elizabeth Devore of the Charter School of Educational Excellence High School (CSEE), received the Positive Power Award for her sustained commitment to both volunteerism and academic excellence. Kimorah has shown her passion for volunteerism since she was 5 years old as a Girl Scout Daisy through today as she serves as a Youth Advocate on the Mount Vernon Youth Court Peer Diversion Program.
The Cara Kealy Award, named after an exemplary and beloved member of the JLB, is given in recognition of a commitment to volunteerism. Temidolaninuoluwa Junaid who also attends the Charter School of Educational Excellence High School (CSEE), received this award in acknowledgment of her creation of the Helping Hands Club at her school to address food insecurity within her school population. She organized food drives and worked with local food pantries to ensure that her fellow students had access to meals.
Finally, the Erica Sevilla Service Award Scholarship, in loving memory of a past JLB president, is awarded to young women who reflect Erica's passion for volunteering and the JLB vision of “Mobilizing Women to Ignite and Inspire Community Change.” This year’s recipients are Olivia Proenca from Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers, and Arriana Howell of Yonkers High School. Olivia is the youngest member on the board of directors of the Yonkers Portuguese-American Community Center. In this role she has raised funds for her community and fostered an environment of collaboration so much so that in November 2024, she was recognized as the New York State Young Woman of the Year by the New York Portuguese American Leadership Council. Arriana volunteers with My Sister’s Keeper and actively participates in drives to provide essentials to women in need.
In addition, the JLB paid tribute to three very important organizations crucial to its success this year.
Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE) was named Community Partner of the Year. Education is one of the JLB’s core community pillars, and the JLB is grateful for the meaningful impact YPIE continues to make in ensuring students have the resources and support they need to succeed. The JLB is honored to work alongside YPIE and provide support through the JLB Scholarships and Grants programs as well as the annual Dorm Drive event.
The JLB was pleased to present the JLB Sponsor of the Year Award to LaGravinese Jewelers. This local, family-owned business has supported the JLB and all it does for many years. Most recently, they were a “Diamond Donor” of the JLB Stocking Stroll event in December which raised money for the JLB’s many outreach initiatives.
Finally this year the JLB honored Seaspeak House Ltd. as the 2024-2025 Outstanding Donor of the Year. Seaspeak House Ltd generously gave a seven-day Nevis vacation to the JLB’s Bids to Benefit silent auction.
JLB 2024-2025 President Jamie Powell Schwartz reflected “[t]he evening was a reminder of what we can accomplish when community organizations, businesses, and volunteers come together in service of others. We gathered not just to celebrate, but to connect with each other and with our community.”
See photos below.
Community Service Organizations Directory
Bronxville Beautification Council
Organized in 1982 and incorporated in 1993, the Bronxville Beautification Council (BBC) is a not for profit organization administered by a Board of Directors. Its mission is to enhance and maintain the natural and man-made beauty of Bronxville Village, with emphasis on the downtown business district of Bronxville. The BBC uses the dollars raised in its annual spring solicitation letter to residents to fund the mum, tulip and summer flower plantings downtown and at traffic intersections, as well as the summer hanging baskets. Every few years the group spearheads such major endeavors as the renovation of Leonard Morange Square on the west side of the railroad tracks and the beautification of the Lawrence Hospital traffic circle, which included the addition of plants and the building of the fountain that now makes a gracious western portal to our town. The BBC also works with other civic groups to monitor the aesthetics of retail signage, the consistency of sidewalk materials, and litter and graffiti. During Beautify Bronxville Week, the BBC sponsors a poetry reading and works with Scout groups on the annual village clean-up.
Bronxville Beautification Council
PO Box 127
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-779-6123
Bronxville Boy Scouts
The village of Bronxville has a long tradition of scouting. “The troops and packs of Bronxville have maintained the finest scouting organizations and have taught the boys of the Bronxville area to be leaders and outstanding members of the local, national and global communities.”
There are several Boy Scout Troops in Bronxville, including Troops 1, 2, 4, and 5.
Bronxvillle Girls Scouts
The Girls Scouts is “the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world.” In Girl Scouts, “girls discover the fun, friendship and power of girls together. Through the many enriching experiences provided by Girl Scouts, they can grow courageous and strong.”
Bronxville Historical Conservancy
The Bronxville Historical Conservancy was founded in 1998 to further the understanding and appreciation of the history and current life of the village. The Conservancy furthers its mission through the presentation of programs, publications, lectures and special events that foster an awareness of the village's architectural, artistic and cultural heritage, and lends its support for projects designed to strengthen and preserve those legacies. Anyone who is interested in the Bronxville and its history can become a member; varying levels of membership are available.
Bronxville Historical Conservancy
PO Box 989
Bronxville, New York 10708
http://bronxvillehistoricalconservancy.org/
Bronxville School Foundation
The Bronxville School Foundation, founded in 1991, is a non-profit organization independent from the school with the sole purpose of supporting the school. The Foundation raises money each year through donations from school families, community members, and alumni, among others.These contributions fund grants that provide cutting-edge technology, innovative programs and curriculum and other resources that are beyond the scope of public school funding.
177 Pondfield Road
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-395-0515
https://www.bronxvilleschoolfoundation.org/
Bronxville Women’s Club
The Bronxville Women’s Club offers lectures, exhibits and concerts. It also has a beautiful clubhouse which is available for rental for events.
135 Midland Avenue
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-337-3252
www.bronxvillewomensclub.org
Bronxville Youth Council
The Bronxville Youth Council provides volunteer and leadership opportunities for high school students in the village of Bronxville.
177 Pondfield Road
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-395-0500 ext 1789
Counseling Center
Founded in 1971, the mission of the Counseling Center “is to provide a wide range of psychotherapeutic and counseling services to individuals, couples and families by a staff of highly trained, experience and dedicated psychotherapists.
The Counseling Center
180 Pondfield Road
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-793-3388
www.counselingcenter.org
Community Fund of Bronxville, Eastchester & Tuckahoe
The mission of the Community Fund is “to support broad social services in Bronxville 10708, Eastchester and Tuckahoe through grants and technical support to local agencies and community projects. All money raised here in our community stays here in our community.”
15 Park Place
Bronxville, New York 10708
914-337-8808
www.thecommunityfund.org
Friends of the Bronxville Library
The Friends of the Bronxville Library is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to focus attention on the “Library’s services, facilities and needs” as well as sponsor projects and provide materials that are beyond the reach of the Library’s regular budget and perform other services.
Junior League of Bronxville
The Junior League of Bronxville is “an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.”
Rotary Club of Bronxville
The mission of the Rotary Club of Bronxville is to “encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and to encourage and foster (1) the development of friendships within the community as an opportunity for service, (2) high ethical standards in business and professions, (3) the application of the ideal of service of each member to his personal and business and community life and (4) the advancement of international understanding, good will and peace through a world fellowship.”
Senior Citizens of Bronxville
Senior Citizens of Bronxville is a not-for-profit organization that provides services and programs to seniors within the 10708 zip code area. “Programs cover a wide range of activities from educational seminars and cultural enrichment, to community services, bridge classes and exercise.”
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