Long Island, NY - June 9, 2017 - On Monday, June 5, six Long Island teens - Carly Tamer of East Northport; Hannah Sharifian of Dix Hills; Sarah Strent of Commack; Ethan Ertel of Dix Hills; Tyler Bonasera of Smithtown and Tyler Eliades of Commack - were honored at the Annual CTeen West Suffolk Awards Dinner for their work and dedication to this vital youth community service organization. Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern came to honor the teens in person, where he said they were “a special group of young people who we know are going to accomplish great things going forward into the future and make all of us very proud.”
Additionally, each teen received certificates acknowledging their achievements from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Town of Huntington and Smithtown officials.
This year alone, CTeen West Suffolk cooked for needy families, held a toy drive, packed holiday gifts for ill children, wrote letters to Israeli soldiers, raised funds through a bowl-a-thon for special needs children, and attended three major conventions; a regional, national and international Shabbaton, where they represented Long Island. At this year's national gathering, CTeen chapter member Dara Blitzer, of Smithtown, was named CTeen Female Leader of the Year. This is the third year in a row the CTeen West Suffolk County chapter has been honored with a national award. In 2015, it was named Chapter of the Year, and in 2016 one of its members was named Male Leader of the Year.
With over 200 chapters globally and tens of thousands of members, CTeen, the fastest growing Jewish teen network in the world, inspires and facilitates teens who want to give back to their community and environment, with an emphasis on positive character development. The CTeen Network believes in the power of youth and transforming the teen years into a time of purpose and self-discovery. The goal is to turn youth into leaders. Under the direction of Rabbi Dovid Weinbaum of The Chai Center, the CTeen West Suffolk chapter has tripled in size to more than 50 members since its launch just three years ago.