New Ro Cheer for Big Viv!

In its seventh year, Big Viv’s toy drive has become a regular feature of the Holiday Season in New Rochelle. With deep roots in the community, Vivian Spady spearheads the toy drive each year to ensure that all families have a merry holiday. As S...

Holiday & Year-End Donation and Drive Opportunities

Looking to give back this holiday season? We’ve compiled a list of opportunities here. Let’s continue to be #NewRoStrong!

Home Depot Foundation Partners with City of New Rochelle for Hygiene Kit Donation

On Wednesday, August 26, The Home Depot Foundation partnered up with Mayor Noam Bramson, City Manager Chuck Strome and The City of New Rochelle to distribute 100 hygiene kits to support local nonprofits, in light of the ongoing pandemic. The two organizat...

16-year-old donates cloth masks to City Hall

NewRoCheers goes out to 16 year old  who took her love of Taylor Swift and turned it into a kind gesture to help the health and safety of the community during these challenging times.  Min Sung, whose family owns Wykagyl Cleaners, is a t...

"New Ro Strong" Face Masks

New Ro Cheers goes out to Selena Evans, a Board Member of the New Rochelle Council of the Arts (NCRA), who has found a way to use her artistic talents to help during the COVID-19 crisis. Selena is a costume designer who has turned her talent with a needle...

American Red Cross provide toiletry kits to New Rochelle Senior Citizens

NewRoCheers goes out to the American Red Cross for providing 1,100 toiletry kits for New Rochelle residents living in senior buildings. The kits will be distributed in the food pantry bags that are regularly being delivered during the coronavirus crisis t...

Home-cooked cookies and brownies delivered to hospital staff

NewRoCheers go out to Sara Spira for delivering 26 dozen home-baked cookies and brownies to hospital workers at Montefiore New Rochelle. Sara’s baking is part of her Bat Mitzvah project, where she is raising funds for WJCS, a local social servic...

Iona College STEP 2020 Virtual Summer Program for Middle and High School Students

Sophomore student uses 3D printer to produce PPE for New Rochelle Organizations

NewRo Cheers go out to Westchester’s Hack the Pandemic for donating 60 face shields to organizations and houses of worship at the front lines of food distribution in New Rochelle. Hack the Pandemic was founded by Mamaroneck High School sophomore...

Volunteers create website to purchase gift cards, leave online reviews

To help local businesses during the pandemic, Brad Brown and fellow New Rochelleans formed an all-volunteer group to create the website www.newrochelleunited.org, making it easy for the public to purchase and donate gift cards, donate to...

#NewRoStrong lawn sign deliveries

NewRo Cheers go out to the army of volunteers delivering lawn signs throughout our neighborhoods who are helping our City show its pride, resiliency, and determination – that we are NewRoStrong! No matter your age, on your own or with your famil...

Mask making with MaskforNY

New Ro Cheers goes out to all the community members making masks during the pandemic. Some mask makers are sewing on their own and donating masks to friends and neighbors such as 70- year old Nolette Marc. Other mask makers are participating in a large, C...

NYC students create cards for residents at New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority

NewRo Cheers go out to New Rochellean Kathryn Castellano-Minaya, who works as a school teacher in NYC. Kathryn’s students made beautiful drawings and cards of well wishes that brought lots of joy to the senior and disabled residents of the New R...

Muralists from around the world send well wishes

Beautiful murals adorn a number of our downtown buildings, created in partnership with Street Art for Mankind (SAM) and unveiled last fall. To inspire the residents of New Rochelle during this challenging time, SAM created a video featuring the #...

Thanking our essential workers - #NewRoStrong gratitude

NewRo Cheers goes out to grassroots initiative #NewRoStrong Gratitude that is spreading the community’s appreciation for our essential workers during the pandemic. The kernel for this initiative began after New Rochellean Rosa Perkins got togeth...

Nourishing the front lines at Montefiore

Many efforts are ongoing in New Rochelle to provide meals and other treats to front line workers at Montefiore as a way to say thank you for all that they are doing during the current public health crisis. The funds raised are then used to purchase the me...

Making the extra trip to help hospital workers

New Rochelleans have come to rely on CircuitNR, the complimentary, on-demand electric shuttle service, to transport them along several routes downtown. CircuitNR is making extra trips these days to support workers at the front lines of the coronavirus fig...

Pivoting manufacturing to help with PPE shortages

NewRo Cheers goes out to local manufacturer Richard Ellenbogen, owner of Allied Converters. Recognizing the shortages in Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Ellenbogen quickly pivoted his plastics business to manufacture 20,000 plastic shields per day fo...

Corporate citizenship at its best!

Even though they are facing challenges themselves, businesses are stepping up to help with donations of food, goods, and money during the pandemic.

· NourishALL, the City’s initiative to provide restaurant gift cards to food insecure r...

Operation senior smile

NewRo Cheers go out to third-grader Katherine Schwartz, who has a big heart and wants to share it! During the pandemic, Katherine started “Operation Senior Smile,” organizing her classmates from Ms. Zaccanino’s class at Ward ...

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church – helping the vulnerable and Thanking the front line

NewRo Cheers go out to Philoptochos of Holy Trinity, the women’s philanthropic society of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church for their selfless efforts to help so many different groups of people impacted by the pandemic. To make sure the Cit...

Surprise gifts to children in need

NewRo Cheers goes out to local business TP Toys and Accessories for its Mystery Bag initiative. In a safe manner, TP assembles and delivers these mystery gift bags of new toys and books that provide a child and his/her family with a lift, a bit of joy, an...

Providing guidance to New Rochelle’s small business and nonprofit community

New Rochelle master developer RXR Realty quickly jumped into action to help our community from the outset of the pandemic. Besides providing grants through the $1 million RXR COVID-19 Relief Fund, the company recently launched  RXR Volunteer, a p...

Violinist plays to honor first responders, essential workers

Cheers to violinist Rosemarie Castellano, a lifelong New Rochellean, who plays a song after the #ClapBecauseWeCare 7PM cheer from her balcony near the Glen Island testing site in honor of first responders, essential workers and her fellow neighbors. Rosem...

NRHS students form new club to help raise funds for food insecurity

NewRo Cheers go out to the new “Bake for Better” club formed by 8 NRHS students during the quarantine to raise funds for HOPE Community Services and Feeding Westchester. Initially, the club is using GoFundMe to raise funds, and, once t...

Pearlgreen Corporation donates masks to first responders

When the coronavirus crisis began, Pearlgreen owner Larry Greenberg saw the increased demand and shrinking supply of personal protective gear for first responders. He quickly placed an order for 4,000 masks and after waiting six weeks for delivery, was ab...

Paying it forward with plasma

Those who suffered from COVID-19 found a way to give back to the community. At Young Israel, an early hotspot for the virus, dozens of recovered community members were among the first to donate blood plasma to be used in an experimental treatment of curre...

T-shirt sales raise thousands for local businesses

With New Rochelle being first and hardest hit by coronavirus cases, local businesses felt the economic impact straightaway. Esther Vacca, a lifelong resident, felt compelled to support her City. Taking the phrase "Straight Outta The Hot Zone", E...

Reaching out to feed senior neighbors

New Rochellean Kristen Marx connected with Shiloh Senior Living Center last year in her capacity as a meditation teacher. Knowing that the senior residents were staying home to stay healthy, Kristen reached out to her friends and neighbors in New Rochells...

Emory Freshman Jeren Wei fundraises for masks, meals

Jeren Wei, a freshman at Emory University, started a fundraising campaign in April. He has used the donations in collaboration with local restaurants, companies and organizations to provide masks and meals to Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital and other hos...

Cell phone charger donations to Montefiore

Noting the stress on COVID-19 patients and their caregivers who are isolated from family and friends, two juniors from New Rochelle High School organized a drive to collect cell phone chargers for Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital. 

Their drive was...

Engineering students makes ventilator in dorm room

Unprecedented times requires unprecedented ingenuity. NewRo Cheers go out to Jacob Goodman, New Rochelle native and current mechanical engineering student at Binghamton University, who was challenged by a professor to come up with a solution for the venti...