Masthead

MAY 2013

In This Issue:
Wellness Day
Birthday Party at AELC
Volunteering & Kites-a success!


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Register Now:  
Golf Fore Kids 
JUNE 3, 2013  
Join us for the ninth annual Golf Fore Kids outing at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, June 3. A great day of golf for a great cause! Dinner and auction to follow. Exciting auction items include a long weekend at the San Francisco Ritz Carlton and a Napa Valley resort, the Tanque Verde Arizona dude ranch, Toronto weekend sports package, local restaurants and more.

Click here to learn more about registering or sponsorships.

    

Employees Celebrate Wellness  


On May 1, the spectacular spring sunshine matched the high spirits of ANDRUS staff who all took part in our first ever Wellness Day. Employees from all of our 14 sites spent the afternoon practicing self care and having great fun in the process. The plan for Wellness Day grew out of our Sanctuary commitment to Self Care.   If we seek to help our children and families find health and wellness in their lives, we need to recognize that we must set the example of personal wellness in our own lives.

 

Departments showed great creativity in designing their activities: gardening in Hope Space, meditating at the Labyrinth, practicing yoga and exercise, making healthy smoothies, undertaking health screenings by Oxford providers and pursuing fitness activities. The highlight of the day was a spirited foot race with COO Brian Farragher taking on all comers. The results remain confidential but what a wonderful healthy day it was for the entire ANDRUS community!  
   
 
 
AELC Turns One!


What is the best way to celebrate a first birthday? Gather dozens of parents, friends and grandmothers in the children's theater at the Andrus Early Learning Center (AELC) in Tuckahoe's Village Hall for a gala performance. On April 25, we did just that - officially celebrated the AELC's first birthday with singing, dancing, a violin solo and lots of cake.

 

The AELC opened its doors in April 2012 with an enrollment of 52 pre-schoolers, but with the beautiful renovation of Village Hall's third floor and the addition of infant care, more than 110 children, ages six weeks to five years old, come every day for learning, growing and nurturing care.  

 

Little Rita Morgan opened the program with a lively violin solo, demonstrating what she has absorbed in the past few months of Suzuki lessons offered at AELC by Concordia Conservatory.   She was joined by 20 pre-school friends for spirited singing, with smiles and clapping by the audience. No party is complete without presents. AELC's arrived in the arms of members of the Tuckahoe Girl Scout Troop # 1466 who marched into the theater with 13 brightly colored baskets filled with hundreds of brand new books and a gaily-painted bookshelf for the Emily McKnight Corry Toy Library, a feature of the new Center.  

 

As CEO Nancy Ment explained, "The support of so many local friends has allowed ANDRUS to move forward in serving young families in Southern Westchester County.  I am so thankful to everyone here for their great care and concern for these young children who are clearly thriving under AELC Director Vidia Cordero." Special guests of honor included John Mack and Sharlyn Carter whose generosity has funded the Carter Arts Wings, and Peg Cady whose deep long standing commitment is reflected in the Margaret F. Cady Staff Resource Room.

 

Following the performance, guests visited the Caf�, where AELC children enjoy hot and nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks every day, and the party continued with homemade brownies and carrot cake.  

 

Due to overwhelming demand and waiting lists for the AELC program, ANDRUS has now announced that is has contracted with the Village of Tuckahoe to lease additional first-floor space for an extra toddler program classroom. We are proud that the Andrus Early Learning Center is growing and changing, helping working families with superb day care and the finest early childhood education available.

Volunteering & Kites  
- a big success!
 
On May 4, hundreds gathered on the ANDRUS campus for two hands-on fun events. A Clean Scene drew families along with corporate and community groups in serious outdoor spring cleaning. The annual volunteer clean up morning, in its seventh year, engages volunteers in sprucing up our 107 acre campus. Mulching and planting, creating a field of lavender, painting sheds and railings competed for attention with cleaning up limbs and winter storm debris. A BBQ lunch and live music rewarded our volunteers for their hard morning's work.

The afternoon turned into an even larger community event celebrating our 85th anniversary, as a Kite Festival drew local residents to make and fly kites of all shapes and sizes. Apple Time, a local Japanese group for families with special needs children, partnered with us to create this wonderful high flying event for the Westchester community. 
 

About ANDRUS

ANDRUS provides support and treatment for 2,500 children and their families throughout Westchester suffering from emotional illness and trauma. The agency offers prevention, assessment, educational, treatment and research programs that help children and families achieve healthy, stable lives.  ANDRUS has grown from its origins as an orphanage into a premier non-profit mental health, social service and special education provider and resource for Westchester.