Board gives out awards for service

Community Board 8 Community Service Awards were given out to leaders of Cub Scout Pack 24, to Ed and Rita Pochter Lowe and to the Schervier Nursing Care Center at the May 10 board meeting.  

Riverdale’s Cub Scout Pack 24 began its weekly meetings in 2008. 

“Prior to that, there wasn’t a pack in Riverdale. I had been looking to get my son involved because I was active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts as a kid. So, we contacted Boy Scouts, looked at various places and after a couple of false starts we got organized with the Riverdale Presbyterian Church,” Michael Meo, one of the organizers who was honored, said.

Mr. Meo, Damaris Nunez and Tim Murphy were all honored for their work with the scouts. 

“It is because of their commitment and service to youth that Pack 24 is one of the strongest and most active Packs in the Bronx,” read a press release.

Starting with just a few boys three years ago, pack enrollment is now around 50 and organizers hope it will grow larger after its Thursday, June 9, open house. During the past three years, Pack 24 members have held beach clean-ups, led conservation projects at local parks, rang bells for the Salvation Army in Riverdale and worked at food drives, among other community-oriented activities. 

“The kids have fun, though that’s the last part, but they learn safety, things to do with the home, how to become better citizens, students and be better in all areas of their lives,” Mrs. Nunez said. “Why wouldn’t I want to get my boys involved in something like that? And, if it’s benefiting my boys in that way, why not share it with the community?”

Community service award recipients Mrs. Lowe and her husband have also been involved with Riverdale’s scouting programs and embraced countless community projects, charities and programs. They spearheaded Riverdalians Against Katrina’s Effects in 2005. Their original goal was to collect enough donations to fill one bus with relief items, but the project raised $6,000 and donations totaled 17 tons, all of which was dropped off on the steps of Houston’s Astrodome by 11 U-Haul trucks.