Seven Long Island teens were honored last week at the annual CTeen West Suffolk Dinner at the Chai Center in Dix Hills for their work and dedication to the youth community service organization.
Sarah Strent of Commack received the Leadership Award; Mikayla Shapiro of Commack and Justin Mintz of Plainview received the Rookies of the Year Awards; Noah Rosenzweig of East Northport and Justin Winawer of Plainview received the Chesed (Kindness) Awards; Beth Goldberg of West Babylon received the Dedication Award; and Elijah Morrison of Melville was named Teen of the Year. The hosts for the evening were CTeen West Suffolk teen leaders, Carly Tamer and Hannah Sharifian, both of East Northport.
Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, Suffolk County Legislator Susan Berland, Carol Nuzzi representing State Sen. John Flanagan and Councilwoman Jacqueline Gordon of the Town of Babylon all attended to congratulate the teens. Greetings and certificates were also sent from Gov. Cuomo, Senator Kristen Gillibrand, and Sen. Charles Schumer.
CTeen West Suffolk teens cooked for needy families, held a toy drive, packed holiday gifts for ill children, enjoyed a paint night with seniors at an assisted living facility, listened to the life stories of Holocaust survivors and attended three major conventions; a regional, national and international Shabbaton, where they represented Long Island.
Rabbi Dovid Weinbaum, the director of CTeen West Suffolk, which is based at The Chai Center, said “We need to reach every Jewish teen and let them know they have a home at CTeen West Suffolk.”
Sarah Strent, who was named the Leader of the Year, told the crowd, “One very significant message I took away from this year of CTeen is that everyone is a leader. You don’t need a title or a sweatshirt to prove that. I firmly believe every single one of you is capable of achieving anything you set out to do.”