YPIE’S 15 YEARS

From left: Mayor Mike Spano; Charlyn Brea, YPIE alumna and board member; David Westin, chair, YPIE Board of Directors; Carl E. Petrillo, vice chair, YPIE Board of Directors; and Samuel Wallis, YPIE executive director.

Yonkers Partners in Education, a nonprofit organization that prepares students for college success, recently hosted its 15th anniversary gala celebrating its students”™ remarkable journeys to and through college.

Supporters, volunteers and friends filled the Barbara Walters Campus Center at Sarah Lawrence College to put college within reach for thousands of Yonkers students. 

Carl E. Petrillo, vice chairman of the YPIE Board of Directors and chairman of Yonkers Contracting Company Inc., was honored for his steadfast dedication to YPIE students. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano presented the award to Petrillo.

“There is no more important mission than educating our children and equipping them with the tools they need to face the challenges of this world,” said Petrillo. “We truly change lives at YPIE and I am proud to be part of it.”

Yonkers Superintendent Dr. Edwin Quezada, New York State Senator Shelley Mayer and several other elected officials and business partners attended this celebration.

Samuel Wallis, YPIE executive director, said, “”¦One thing remains steady ”“ college is still the most reliable path toward upward mobility in this country… for first-generation students especially, a college degree can transform the possibilities for them and for their families.”