Sound Shore

Harrison High School senior Zoe Stein recently worked with a squad of volunteers and the Harrison Recreation Department to organize a community-wide “I Made a Difference Charity Wellness Festival.”

The festival, which included information about how animals are abused and killed for food in the U.S., raised more than $700 for peta2, PETA’s youth division—and for her efforts, Stein has received a Star Street Teamer Award from the group.

“Zoe Stein has worked hard to make sure that her friends, family, and community all know about the benefits of healthy vegan eating,” peta2 Division Manager Marta Holmberg said in a press release. “The compassion, energy, and dedication it took to organize a community-wide event sets a great example not just for young activists but for anyone who wants to make a difference for animals.”

peta2’s Street Team is a group of young activists dedicated to helping animals through in-person events, online campaigns, and social media. Stein, who also serves on peta2’s Youth Advisory Board, will receive a framed certificate and a letter signed by peta2 staffers.

She said she plans to keep the event going annually.

Got this recently from Mamaroneck High School:

Timeflies, featuring 2007 MHS alum Cal Shapiro, will make a special appearance at MHS in the Post Gym at 8 p.m.  Feb. 4, to benefit the Mamaroneck Community Counseling Center.

Timeflies is currently touring the country performing in concert halls and colleges. Their music has generated over 1 million YouTube hits, and their new album, Scotch Tape, has produced a single that has made it to the top of the iTunes charts.

According to a profile recently in Vanity Fair magazine, “the future is looking very bright for the musical masterminds of electro-pop-hip-hop-rap group Timeflies.”

Purchase student tickets the week of the concert at lunchtime in the overpass. Limit is 4 tickets per person. $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $20 for adults.

Tickets will be sold the day of the show beginning at 3 at MHS – Post Road Entrance. Cash only – no checks or credit cards accepted. Admission to the show will only be granted with a ticket. There is no “lost ticket” policy. We expect this to sell out and strongly encourage people to buy their tickets in advance.

Rich Randall of Larchmont high-fives daughter Lindsey, 10, after their 1-mile swim during the Swim Across America fundraiser swim in the Long Island Sound on July 30, 2011. Participants, who swam 1, 4 or 6 miles, departed from the Larchmont Yacht Club and finished at the Larchmont Shore Club. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Swim Across American fundraiser swim in the Long Island Sound beginning and ending in Larchmont in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com for more weekend news.

The Junior League began in New York City in 1901 to help immigrant children on Lower East Side. In 1950 the group had its official start in this part of Westchester. To celebrate the six-decade mark, the “Junior League of Westchester on the Sound” is giving $60,000 worth of grants to local groups.

The money will pay for a wide range of assistance, including: “chemo comfort kits” for cancer patients, a literary magazine for children at the Kennedy Magnet School in Port Chester, a countywide conference on teen dating violence, and supplies for County Harvest, which collects excess food from restaurants for use in soup kitchens.

The full list of grants is here.

The local chapter expanded over the years from New Rochelle and Larchmont to Mamaroneck, Harrison, Rye, Rye Brook and Port Chester.

A group of kids in Port Chester got a jump on Sunday’s big fund-raising walk for autism research by holding a school dance-a-thon and raising more than $1,000 for the cause.

Dana Teller, a special ed teacher aide at the Park Avenue School, sent us some photos of the action from May 26. About 190 children in the OASIS after school program took part.

Check out Brandon Molano and Jennifer Segura, in the photos, showing their best moves.

Sunday’s walk and community-resource fair, organized by the group Autism Speaks, will be at New York Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains. The campus will be home to a new Institute for Brain Development, focusing on autism treatment and research, sometime in late 2012.

Teller will be taking part in the walk with Emil’s Extreme Team, inspired by 18-year-old Rye Brook resident Emil Jensen. He and his mother, Doris Perez, have been working hard to support autism research. A few years back, they pressed for the Empire State Building to be lit up in blue every Aug. 1 and 2, symbolizing World Autism Awareness Day. Read more about them in this Journal News story.

Blind Brook High School student Danny Ullman is at it again this year, organizing a “sleep out” in the athletic field to raise money and awareness for the homeless.

A rally starts at 8 p.m. Saturday with speakers including Joy Bauer, the nutrition and health commentator from the Today show. The 2010 event raised $4,000, and brought 130 people to the rally.

The rally and sleep out return this year  to the field at 840 King St. in Rye Brook. About that weather forecast: “One of our slogans is that homelessness doesn’t have a rain date,” Ullman says.

The 17-year-old senior plans to attend Yale next year and study engineering, combined with psychology. “I want to always continue to work with people,” he says.

(Photo: Carucha Meuse/The Journal News)

Here’s an event with some serious potential: “A Taste of Port Chester.”

This is a village famous for its many tastes drawing from Italy, India and just about every corner of Central and South America. It sounds like a lot to do in one day, but the Tamarack Tower Foundation, which provides grants for school programs and special projects, has organized this event for Sunday, June 5. Participants pay $25, or $30 the day of the event, to tour the village’s restaurants at their own pace. Here’s the flier for details:

Steven Hernandez of Rye and his daughter Tara Shanes-Hernandez lead hundreds of walkers as they set out on the second annual Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk at Rye Town Park this morning. The two organized the walk in memory of Steven’s wife and Tara’s mother Gigi Shanes-Hernandez, who died of pancreatic cancer two years ago. About seven-hundred people took part in this year’s 5k walk, which started and finished at Rye Town Park. This year’s event raised over $250,000 for pancreatic cancer research. Photo by Seth Harrison

Look for coverage in tomorrow’s edition of The Journal News. Also view a gallery of photos from the event at Lohud.com.

Tandoori restaurant in Port Chester will be a fund-raising venue Thursday for a fund-raiser for survivors of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The Port Chester / Rye Brook Rotary Club is organizing the event along with the group One World United and Virtuous. The Indian restaurant is donating all of the food, and the suggested donation for dinner is $50.

New Rochelle Youth Lacrosse, a nonprofit sports program for kids in grades 1-6, will hold a scholarship fundraiser Saturday in memory of Eric Tutera, “the epitome of a team player,” who died in 2008. The information is at www.nrlax.com.

Tutera, at 28, died in an accident in Hong Kong harbor, where he had traveled on a business trip. He was a former captain of the New Rochelle High School lacrosse team, said his coach, Pat Swift.

According to a fundraising letter, “some of Eric’s greatest assets were his deep-rooted friendships, leadership and his drive to achieve success.”