Sisters who happen to also be students at Maria Regina High School in Hartsdale were honored in the 30th annual Auxiliary Board of St. Vincent”™s Hospital Westchester”™s Youth Awards for their outstanding volunteer service. The sisters: Siena O”™Brien, Class of ”™25, and Stella O”™Brien, Class of ”™26, of Yonkers were among a select group of 18 students from throughout Westchester who were congratulated during a recent awards ceremony.
The sisters earned the award for their service initiative “Team Happy Feet,” a thermal sock drive held every November before the onset of winter to supply the homeless with warm footwear during the cold winter months. The effort started as an event for family and friends in 2012 and has since grown with thousands of socks delivered to the “Irish Volunteers for the Homeless” based out of the Aisling Irish Community Center, which distributes socks to the homeless in surrounding Westchester communities.
The Auxiliary Board of St. Vincent”™s Hospital Westchester created the Youth Awards in 1993 to honor students from area high schools whose volunteer service best exemplifies the hospital”™s mission and to encourage young people to develop lifelong patterns of volunteerism. Honorees are nominated by their high school administration, faculty and/or the students themselves.
A Catholic high school, Maria Regina is where young women are encouraged to achieve academic excellence, empowered to be compassionate, empowered to be compassionate leaders, and enriched with the Spirit to live a life of Charity, Truth, and Service to others.
