Woman's Club of White Plains Holds Luncheon & Fashion Show

From the Woman's Club of White Plains:

Celebrating a long tradition of providing scholarships to students in White Plains, the Woman’s Club of White Plains held its 2016 Scholarship Luncheon and Fashion Show on April 16. The affair was held at the historic CV Rich Mansion, home of the Woman’s Club since 1930. Past scholarship winners as well as women in service were honored at the luncheon.

Ybelize Pilarte, chairwoman of the event commented, “As the Woman’s Club celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2016, we wanted to look back in our history and our long relationship with White Plains Hospital, where nursing students received our first scholarships over sixty years ago. We also wanted to give a nod to the women in our schools and community who educate our children, keep us all safe and are on the front line of providing health care. “

Previous winners provided short bios for the “Where Are They Now?” section of the program. These updates provided stories of success including careers in nursing, marketing, IT, medicine, communication, graphic design and engineering. Speaking at the luncheon was past scholarship winner, Katherine Bonnet who recently graduated from SUNY Albany and is currently pursuing a law degree at Pace University.

The much anticipated fashion show followed the presentation by Ms. Bonnet and featured apparel from Lord & Taylor and LOLA New York. This year’s models represented “Women in Service” from the White Plains Public Schools, White Plains Hospital and the White Plains Police Department. Susan Doherty, Woman’s Club member and speech therapist remarked, “It was very moving to have members of our police force and nurses join the school employees modeling this year. Our city is in good hands with these impressive women.” The models and the 180 attendees both felt this show was the best ever and offered special thanks to Lord & Taylor and LOLA New York for their generosity and expertise in choosing fun and fabulous fashions for the show.

Net proceeds from the day which will fund the scholarships are expected to approach $15,000. This year’s applicants are exceptionally talented and the Scholarship Interview Committee has been working hard to choose the most deserving and qualified candidates. The 2016 winners will be announced at the annual spring dinner of the Woman’s Club on May 19. Scholarships will be awarded to the winning students at Awards Night at White Pains High School in June.

The Woman’s Club of White Plains is a diverse group of women with a shared sense of civic responsibility and a desire to give back to the community. Its mission is to enhance the lives of others as well as their members by participating in and sponsoring many volunteer, charitable and fund-raising activities as well as numerous social events. In addition, the Club is also responsible for maintaining and restoring the historic CV Rich mansion, its clubhouse since 1930. The Woman’s Club believes every woman can contribute to the various opportunities the Club offers and invites women of all ages to join them as they continue their work to improve our communities. For more information about Club events and membership, see the website www.womansclubofwhiteplains.org.