Fifteen different professional and student artists, members of the community and a very talented Jazz band made up of four high school seniors came together to enjoy an art auction to raise funds for Neighbor to Neighbor.
The event was held at the Round Hill Community House and GHS jazz musicians Austin Cohen, Nic Massimi, Lui Luangkhot and Michael McNulty entertained the crowd.
Boris Ardemasov, a senior at Greenwich High School and an avid artist who wanted to help out in the Greenwich community, created Art for Awareness, the club that organized the event.
Boris was initially thrilled with the prospect of employing his passion to create a difference inside his own community, saying, “I think I can speak for everyone in the group when saying that this has been so much fun, because we have been planning the event for about a year now, and seeing it all come together has been very gratifying.”
Working together with the club’s VP Aidan Brock and club communications person Thomas Rouffiac, Boris put together an evening with a singular focus: providing as much help to Neighbor to Neighbor as possible.
All of the club’s leaders were very excited about helping an organization that they had
previously volunteered in and believed in wholeheartedly.
“I am a first generation immigrant, and the Greenwich community has embraced me from the time I first set foot in town,” Boris said. “The desire to give back to a society that has given so much to me is what has inspired me throughout this project.”
“The event certainly has been an undertaking, especially with AP classes and college applications that we all have around this time of year, but seeing firsthand what the charity does inspired us to put in the time to make the event perfect,” Aidan said.
“Since we are quickly entering the winter months and still some time away from Christmas food drives, Neighbor to Neighbor needs our help the most right about now,” Thomas said.
Nancy Coughlin, director of Neighbor to Neighbor thanked the club for staging the auction fundraiser. She said that over the years her organization has grown to serving over 5,000 residents of Greenwich, Stamford and Port Chester.
“We have a food pantry that provides weekly nutritious food to Greenwich residents. We have a clothing room that provides 19,000 shopping bags a year of clothing, well as housewares, winter coats, back to school supplies and prom dresses,” Coughlin said. “We try to meet people’s basic needs serving Greenwich, Stamford and Port Chester.”
After many weeks of organizing, planning and arduous trips up and down Connecticut for Boris, seeing the event come together was incredibly gratifying.
After expenses, Art for Awareness raised $3,000 for Neighbor to Neighbor, a considerable sum considering the auction was the club’s first major event.
At the Round Hill Community House during the Auction.
The Band: Austin Cohen, Michael McNulty, Nic Massimi, Lui Luangkhot (from left to right)