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Northern New York Community Foundation

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Kolb, Williams Named Graf Award Recipients at Watertown High School

June 9, 2016 By admin

For more than 60 years, the William I. Graf Award has recognized the top graduating male and female athletes at Watertown High School. On Wednesday, Kira Kolb was selected as the school’s top female recipient, and Daesean Williams was chosen for the top male honor for this year’s Graf awards.

The William I. Graf Award was created in 1954 by the Italian American Civic Association to honor Mr. Graf’s leadership and civic engagement in the community. Mr. Graf was a multi-sport coach and athletic director at Watertown High School. Graf award honorees are expected to have participated in at least two or more varsity sports in their senior year and showcase exemplary individual characteristics in sportsmanship, discipline, fair play, training, ability and academics.

Kolb was a five-year varsity player on the soccer and lacrosse teams at Watertown. She helped guide the Cyclones to a Section 3 girls lacrosse championship and a New York State Final Four appearance in 2015. She was also chosen as a Frontier League All-Star in lacrosse and soccer. Kolb also participated on the varsity girls basketball team for two years. She will study visual communications and graphics at Mercyhurst College (Pa.), where she also earned a scholarship to play lacrosse.

Williams was an accomplished five-year varsity wrestler for the Cyclones. He notched first-place honors in Section 3 in his weight class and qualified for state competition earlier this year. He participated on the varsity track team for three years and played two years of varsity football. As a senior, Williams was an All-North and All-State performer as a running back for the football team. He plans to major in business at Hartwick College in Oneonta and play football for the Division III program.

More than 100 graduating high school seniors have received the Graf Award. Watertown High School’s athletics staff selects the recipients each year, and the Italian American Civic Association presents the award. Following the death of Mr. Graf’s son, William A. Graf, in 2013, the family decided to honor him by funding a financial award for recipients. William A. Graf, who also exemplified the traits of the award, attended Watertown High School and played several varsity sports coached by his father, William I.

Each recipient receives a financial award of $500. The Northern New York Community Foundation was selected to help continue the Graf family legacy by administering the fund in perpetuity and raising awareness of the award for students striving to earn the honor.

The Northern New York Community Foundation makes grants to support the work of non-profit organizations and provides scholarships to individuals in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The Foundation has been built and added to from gifts (both while living and through their legacy plans) by individuals and organizations committed to meeting the changing needs of Northern New York, as well as supporting specific charitable interests and passions.

 

Filed Under: Recent News

Northern New York Community Foundation

131 Washington Street
Watertown, NY 13601

Phone: 315-782-7110
Fax: 315-782-0047

info@nnycf.org

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Northern New York Community Foundation

Northern New York Community Foundation

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Working with donors to benefit the community through grants and scholarships since 1929.

Watch your mailboxes for our 2023 Friends Supporters issue of “Thoughtful Giving” this weekend!

We feature all donors who made gifts to the Friends of the Foundation 2022 Annual Community Betterment Fund and pay tribute to many special people who our community recently lost.

Annual donors like YOU help make possible so much of our work that strengthens Northern New York for everyone.

View a digital “sneak peek” of the issue at: issuu.com/nnycf/docs/tg_donorappreciation_spring_2023

#ThoughtfulGiving #ThoughtfulLegacies #NNYCF

Watch your mailboxes for our 2023 Friends Supporters issue of “Thoughtful Giving” this weekend!

We feature all donors who made gifts to the Friends of the Foundation 2022 Annual Community Betterment Fund and pay tribute to many special people who our community recently lost.

Annual donors like YOU help make possible so much of our work that strengthens Northern New York for everyone.

View a digital “sneak peek” of the issue at: issuu.com/nnycf/docs/tg_donorappreciation_spring_2023

#ThoughtfulGiving #ThoughtfulLegacies #NNYCF
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ATTENTION TRI-COUNTY NONPROFITS:

Our partners at the Watertown Sunrise Rotary Foundation, a component fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation, welcome eligible nonprofit organizations in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties to apply for its annual Taste of the Town grant. Up to $5,000 in funding is available.

The Watertown Sunrise Rotary Club established a charitable foundation at the Community Foundation to help steward its philanthropic efforts and more effectively serve the region.

Nonprofit organizations should apply for this funding opportunity by Friday, March 31, through the Community Foundation’s online grant portal at nnycf.org/grants

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/taste-of-town-2023

#NNYCF #SunriseRotary #Partners #TasteOfTheTown
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Watertown’s Taste of the Town Set for April 22; Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation Seeks Grant Applications

www.nnycf.org

Watertown’s Taste of the Town Set for April 22; Sunrise Rotary Club Foundation Seeks Grant Applications February 21, 2023 By admin Opportunity for $5,000 in Funding Open to All Tri-County Nonprofit ...
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Meet Taya Coller, an eighth grader at Edwards-Knox Central School District.

For Taya, “Community means teamwork and people helping other people. When people are a part of a community, they look out for each other and work together.”

“In my community neighbors help each other,” Taya wrote in her winning essay. “Our hospital helps people recover from injury or disease.”

As a 2021-2022 Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Taya had a chance to present a grant to the St. Lawrence Health Foundation at Gouverneur Hospital, an organization she chose for its work to help those in the community who need it most. 

“Gouverneur Hospital best embodies my definition of community because it helps make the community a better place by looking out for other people,” Taya wrote. “For example, the hospital vaccinates people to try to help stop the spread of diseases like the flu, and hospital workers work together as one big team.” 

Taya met had a chance to meet Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital vice president for nursing, and present a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the hospital continue its critical work. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor. 

Pictured, from left, Diane Easton, Community Bank branch manager; Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital; and Taya Coller, Edwards-Knox Central School eighth grader and Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner.

Taya is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside her community to help an organization that works to improve quality of life for its residents. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Taya’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit

Meet Taya Coller, an eighth grader at Edwards-Knox Central School District.

For Taya, “Community means teamwork and people helping other people. When people are a part of a community, they look out for each other and work together.”

“In my community neighbors help each other,” Taya wrote in her winning essay. “Our hospital helps people recover from injury or disease.”

As a 2021-2022 Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Taya had a chance to present a grant to the St. Lawrence Health Foundation at Gouverneur Hospital, an organization she chose for its work to help those in the community who need it most.

“Gouverneur Hospital best embodies my definition of community because it helps make the community a better place by looking out for other people,” Taya wrote. “For example, the hospital vaccinates people to try to help stop the spread of diseases like the flu, and hospital workers work together as one big team.”

Taya met had a chance to meet Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital vice president for nursing, and present a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the hospital continue its critical work. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor.

Pictured, from left, Diane Easton, Community Bank branch manager; Christina Latta, Gouverneur Hospital; and Taya Coller, Edwards-Knox Central School eighth grader and Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner.

Taya is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside her community to help an organization that works to improve quality of life for its residents. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Taya’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit
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