MyRye.com’s Wainwright Award & Community as a Group Sport
(PHOTO: Ferdinand Coghlan (Rye High School Eagle Scout), Lisa Dominici (executive director, Rye Youth Council), Jay Sears (publisher, MyRye.com), Rabbi Daniel Gropper (Community Synagogue Rye) at the 2024 Wainwright House benefit. Credit: Jo Bryan.)
By Jay Sears – owner & publisher of MyRye.com and founder, Team Dayā
A few weeks ago, I was presented Ripple Of Change Award at the 2024 Wainwright House benefit. Wainwright described the award: “(it) recognizes a person who encourages positive change through communication and education, inspiring others to contribute to building healthy communities”.
I wanted to share my prepared remarks from that evening – printed below – as it answers my favorite question – why? Spoiler alert: community – and community news – is a group sport. Jump in and participate. If you look at my fellow awardees – Lisa Dominici – executive director, Rye Youth Council; Rabbi Daniel Gropper – Community Synagogue Rye; Ferdinand Coghlan & Logan Jancski – Rye High School Eagle Scouts – you will find them represented on our pages – they are community MVPs!
Thank you to the Wainwright House board of trustees and its programming head Jessica Zamek for the honor and a lovely evening with the community. Thanks also to former Rye Mayor Joe Sack and State Assemblyman and former Rye Mayor Steve Otis who – together – introduced me at the Wainwright event. And thanks our MyRye.com friends who came out to celebrate and to Westchester Legislator Catherine Parker for her kind words and putting the names of each of the award recipients up in lights at the County Center.
My remarks:
“Thank you Joe and Steve.
MyRye.com has published over 9,000 stories about Rye. Today, 50,000 users visit our website each month.
MyRye.com is my love letter to our community.
Tonight I want to invite each of you to be part of this love letter.
Like something? Don’t like something? Know something?
Call us. Send an email.
Community news is a group sport.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Write a letter to the editor. And please – advertise with us!
Community news is about our shared experience.
Who won the girls varsity soccer game. Which Rye resident won the hot dog eating contest at Walter’s. Who is on the City Council, and what are they doing?
This is why I asked both Joe and Steve to introduce me tonight. We can be from different tribes. We don’t have to agree.
BUT We do need to come together.
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Wainwright is also acknowledging the charity work I do through a group I founded in 2018 called Team Daya.
We are a group of executives – primarily in the tech and media fields – fighting poverty and illiteracy in remote areas of the developing world by funding the construction of primary schools.
We have built schools in five countries around the world. This December we will break ground on our eighth school – this one in Guatemala. Next year we have projects scheduled in Nicaragua, Malawi and Nepal.
We are literally Building Change in these communities. If you want to work with some of the smartest, most lovely people I know – and have one of the most joyful experiences of your life – see me after the show.
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Before they wrestle the mic from me, thanks and love to my wife Lauren. None of this happens without her support and her enduring and everlasting patience with me and my belief that we are put on this earth to make each other better every day.
Thank you.”
