Love Your Neighbor Project awards scholarships

Love Your Neighbor Project, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to fostering community connections, recently awarded scholarships to several inspiring students.

Jaime Teich, the project’s founder, explained that scholarships provide financial support and encouragement to students and community members who demonstrate a commitment to enhancing their communities. The organization has expanded its scholarship initiative since its inception last year.

“We launched the scholarships last year during our first prom event,” Teich explained. “It felt right to give back through scholarships, supporting our schools and students who embody our mission of social goodness.”

The scholarships include awards for graduating seniors, individual schools, classes or clubs within the North Shore School District, and community projects. Teich emphasized the importance of giving young people the opportunity to make a difference in their community, and that scholarships were a way to support that.

“People have so many ideas every single day, and sometimes achieving them just comes down to encouragement or it comes down to money,” Teich said. “So, if we can provide both of those things for neighbors to build on an idea that they have that they think will help our community come together, we want to be able to support it.”

This year, three graduating seniors each received $1,000 scholarships. The recipients were Sophia Marchioli, Charlotte Marchioli, and Ava Attina, who Teich praised for their exceptional dedication to their community.

Sophia Marchioli was recognized for giving nearly 100 hours of community service, in addition to driving several hours upstate to help a cross-country teammate who was nervous before a championship. Charlotte Marchioli, her twin, was honored for having hosted numerous fundraisers. Ava Attina was awarded for her and her family’s efforts in establishing a memorial scholarship and volunteering for fundraisers following the death of a cousin.

The awards for the school district’s school, club, or class were not announced as of press time.
The Community Scholarship, which gives $500, is awarded to a project that “fosters social goodness within the community,” according to Teich. Ian Strong, last year’s recipient of the Community Scholarship explained that thanks to LYNP’s scholarship, he was been able to make a pride garden on Sea Cliff Avenue.

“Sea Cliff is really a tightknit community, and I feel like it’s important to make sure that the community is happy,” he said. “It’s important to have these little areas of validation and support around town.”

The project can be proposed by any resident within the North Shore School District, regardless of age. Strong emphasized the importance of community-oriented initiatives to not just improve the area you live, but in encouraging others to do the same.

“These scholarships show that there are organizations and people who care about making sure everyone has opportunities to contribute to the community,” he said.

This year’s Community Scholarship winner, Ruby Kaye, is a testament to the power of youth engagement. At just 10 years old, Ruby, the president of the Sea Cliff Garden Club at Sea Cliff Elementary, proposed a project called “Ruby’s Love Your Garden.”

Through this, Ruby aims to bring free gardens to homeowners and businesses, educating them on gardening while helping the environment and providing produce to neighbors in need. Ruby’s inspiration came from her involvement in the Garden Club, and her project not only teaches gardening but also addresses food insecurity by donating the produce grown.

“I was in science class, and we learned about how much people don’t really have food,” Ruby explained. “And I realized you can grow vegetables and stuff and give them to food banks to help people.”

Teich added that giving younger children like Ruby the chance to improve their communities and learn the importance of it at a young age is exactly the mission of LYNP.

“Ruby’s proposal was comprehensive and touched on multiple levels of community improvement,” Teich said. “This is how change happens—through the awareness and actions of individuals, regardless of age.”

For more information on LYNP, including its scholarships, programs and more, go to their website, LYNP.org.