In response to your article “Out of This World” in the June 12 issue, as seniors who attended Great Neck South High’s Senior Event on May 30, 2019, we wish to extend our sincere gratitude to the various organizers and supporters who all made the occasion such a success. From the hardworking parents who have been meeting since October to plan the event, to the generous establishments that donated dishes and raffle gifts, we greatly appreciate your tireless efforts to create this send-off for us, as our graduation was weeks away. Instead of outsourcing such a massive undertaking, the organizing team deserves much praise and respect, as well as gratitude for their devotion to creating such an occasion themselves.
My personal experience can attest to both the magnitude and excitement of Senior Event. The appreciation I had gazing at the visually stunning space-themed decorations, while waiting for sumptuous foods and playing at the various game stalls to win raffle tickets, along with the accompaniment of exciting DJ music, showed that it was all well worth the time and effort.
We thank the people most involved in planning the 2019 Senior Event for their volunteer work, including event chair Andrea Kosofsky, core team members Elizabeth Dusman, Frank Dusman, Lily Cheng, Cynthia Huang Xu and Amy Williams, Penny Nierenstein, Marvin Anchin and Joe Friedman, who met twice a week since October at Wiles House to prepare for the event.
Extreme designers Anchin and Friedman worked on life-size sculptures, while the others contributed to all of the other details, including designing event T-shirts and badges, making the cosmo-plate souvenirs with seniors’ baby pictures and preparing various backgrounds with high-quality, hand-drawn artwork featuring various constellations, keeping with the theme of space travel throughout popular culture. Other parents helped with fundraising and soliciting gift and food donations.
More than 2,000 hours were spent in intense preparation for this occasion, with core committee members working for at least 10 months and around 50 volunteers working at the event for the sole purpose of giving the South High seniors an opportunity to enjoy themselves.
In addition to the main members spending six hours weekly on event preparations, more than 60 local establishments donated their products, contributing significantly to the variety of dishes offered by the parent volunteers.
The Senior Event committee gratefully acknowledges the generous donations from +39 Italian Eatery, 16 Handles, A Force Brazilian Jitsu, Alessio Pizzeria, Anthony’s Coal Fired, Antonino’s Italian Restaurant, Bagel Hut, Best Bagels, Best Market, Brilliant Nails, Carvel, Crawfords, Cutter Nail, Daruma, Dashing Diva, DBB Nail Spa, DeFranco Hair Salon, Dunkin’ Donuts–Lakeville Road, Everfresh, Five Roasters, Gino’s Great Neck, Gino’s New Hyde Park, Gino’s Port Washington, Great Neck Diner, Greek Express, Hi Tech Photo, Kensington Deli, Kitchen Melody, Krung Tep Thai, La Bottega, La Rotunda, Laverne, Lazar’s Chocolate, Little Neck Beverage, Louie’s Diner, Luigi’s Pizzeria Garden City Park, Luigi’s New Hyde Park, Mario’s, Max & Gino’s, Mr. Wish, Nature Farm Supermarket, New York Sports Club, North Shore Farms, Nufu (New Furen), Omega Diner, Ralph’s Ices, Red Lotus Bakery, Rothchilds, Schout Bay, Señor Nacho, Soku Asian Fusion, Starbucks Great Neck, Sushi Palace, The Yu Family, Umberto’s Manhasset, Unique Nails, Wild Ginger and Zen Garden.
This event wouldn’t have been made possible without these contributions, and the volunteers encourage the community to support these businesses that give back to our schools.
