Wainwright House to Award MyRye.com Publisher & Other Community Leaders
The local nonprofit Wainwright House will honor MyRye.com publisher Jay Sears and other community leaders at its 2024 benefit Honoring Waves of Impact this Thursday evening, October 10, 2024. Each year Wainwright House honors individuals “who have made substantial contributions to our community and beyond”.
The 2024 Wainwright House awardees are:
Ripple Of Change Award – This award recognizes a person who encourages positive change through communication and education, inspiring others to contribute to building healthy communities.
Jay Sears – owner & publisher of MyRye.com and founder, Team Dayā
Ripple of Effect – This award recognizes a person whose contributions, while being immediately visible, will also have a profound and enduring impact over time.
Lisa Dominici – executive director, Rye Youth Council
Ripple Of Hope Award – This award celebrates the idea of hope as a transformative force, and that small, positive actions taken everyday can lead to meaningful change in the world.
Rabbi Daniel Gropper – Community Synagogue Rye
Ripple Of Service Award – This award acknowledges the idea that service, at any age, has the potential to create significant and lasting change to make the world a more connected and compassionate place.
Ferdinand Coghlan & Logan Jancski – Rye High School Eagle Scouts
Past Honorees
Past honorees include from 2023: Annabel Monaghan, Jen Crozier & Lucy Berkoff, Dr. Bill Myer, Eddy Kehoe and Carlos Jimenez and from 2022 George Latimer, Dr. Eric Byrne and The Rye Relief Team for Hurricane Ida.
Tickets
Event tickets ($150+) are still available for purchase via the Wainwright House website. The benefit is this Wednesday, October 10th, 2024 from 6:00pm – 8:30pm. There will be an awards program, a raffle as well as hors d’oeuvres, a taco bar and dessert.
Want to know more about the awardees? Read on…
Sears
Jay Sears is the owner and publisher of MyRye.com. While many local news sources are in steep decline, MyRye.com continues to publish daily stories about local police, fire, government, schools, community groups, business, real estate, sports and the people of Rye. The site offers a robust intern program to college and high school students from Rye looking for real world writing, editing and photography experience.
Jay has an accomplished career helping to run companies in the high tech and media sectors. He has also raised funds through his Team Dayā ( दया) charity group to build primary schools in remote impoverished places around the world to fight illiteracy and poverty.
A 20+ year resident, he lives in Rye with his wife Lauren and their three sons, Ethan (RHS ‘17, U Michigan ‘21), Noah (RHS ‘19, Tulane ‘24) and Jonathan (RHS ‘21, Tulane ‘25). Sears is an avid traveler, boater, gardener and birdwatcher.
Dominici
Lisa Dominici joined the Rye Youth Council Board of Directors in 2010 and since 2018 has served as its executive director, leading the charge to prioritize youth mental health. She is passionate about increasing awareness and decreasing stigma associated with mental illness, and envisions a world where every child develops the social and emotional skills to successfully navigate the challenges and experiences that impact their mental health and well-being. Lisa is an accomplished triathlete, nature lover, and above all, mother to her three children.
Rabbi Gropper
Rabbi Daniel Gropper serves as spiritual leader of Community Synagogue where he has shepherded the congregation over the past 21 years. He is passionate about creating connections, community, and transformational opportunities to make Judaism compelling and relevant. His volunteer passions include advocating for Israel, youth and teens, and repairing the world. Daniel loves cycling and cooking, movies and meditation and being the number one fan for his wife and three kids.
Coghlan
Ferdinand joined cub scouts in 2014 shortly after moving to Rye with his family as a 2nd grader. In 2016 he became a Scout with Rye Troop 2. He held a number of leadership positions in the troop and participated in numerous community projects aiding The Rye Nature Center, Edith Read Sanctuary, Rye Marshlands, Don Bosco Port Chester, Rye Resurrection POTS, and Bread of Life among others. Along the way he also participated in many scouting adventures and trips including 2 high adventure bases, Philmont, NM and Sea Base, FL, and attended the World Scouting Jamboree in 2023 in South Korea.
To obtain his Eagle Scout rank Ferdinand completed a service project at Wainwright House. He led a team of volunteers to enhance the landscaping of the Seven Generations Sculpture by the Dutch artist Frederick Franck on their grounds which were overgrown with weeds, ivy and overhanging branches. He added a plaque on a granite marker notating the sculptor along with a quotation that accompanies the sculpture from the Great Law of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy – “In all our deliberations we must be mindful of the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
Ferdinand graduated from Rye High School in 2023. He is pursuing a degree in Liberal Arts at University College of Dublin. He is currently on a gap year in Denmark.
Jancski
As an Eagle Scout, Logan Jancski took on the mission to revive and enhance the meditation garden at Wainwright House, a project that perfectly aligned with his skills and passions — leadership, collaboration, learning, creativity, and a love for the outdoors. Logan graduated from Rye High School this past June. While at RHS, he focused his learning on STEM courses, digital art, photography, and six years of Latin.
Outside the classroom, Logan is an avid snowboarder and loves to be out on the water. He competed on the Rye High School sailing team and loves to spend time surfing, kitesurfing, and SCUBA diving. During his six years in scouting, Logan steadily advanced in rank, held various leadership positions, earned numerous merit badges across diverse topics and provided guidance and training to younger scouts, all while enjoying countless outdoor adventures.
The successful completion of Wainwright’s meditation garden served as the community contribution metric required to achieve the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, which he did just one year ago. Beyond academics, work and time on the water Logan pursues hobbies that reflect his passion for the outdoors and creativity. His interests also extend to video editing, photography, and digital arts, where he explores new ways of blending technology with creativity.
