Mamaroneck is gearing up for an eventful, yet benevolent, series of summer happenings that will drive traffic to the village while benefiting charity.
Last year, Mamaroneck Shares—a group set up last year to plan and promote summer charity events on Mamaroneck Avenue—organized three events on the avenue, which brought approximately 20,000 people to the village.
The major goal, said Peggy Jackson—one of the group’s founding board members—of the Mamaroneck Shares is to, “raise money for local charities and help local businesses by bringing lots and lots of people to the town. The two goals go hand in hand.”
This year, one more event has been added to the roster; each will have it’s own theme: July 14 is International Night, July 28 will be Country and Western Night, August 18 is ‘50’s night and September 9 will be Paint the Town Pink, (intended to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer).
Last year, the group divided over $12,000 among three local charities, according to Jackson.
“We hope to bring even more people to the village this year and work to maximize our fundraising, so we can continue to help our local featured charities” says Jackson.
The charities that Mamaroneck Shares is partnered with this year include the , the , , and Keep aBreast.
“It’s great to see residents coming together to promote our town in a way that is fun and helps local causes,” said Mamaroneck resident Maggie O’Neill about the upcoming events.
Some of the planning staff include Mayor Norman Rosenblum, former mayor Phil Trifiletti, Molly Spillane’s owner Mike Hynes, and Robert’s Department Store Owner Manny Enes.
“It takes a lot of planning and support to put on a single village-wide event like this, let alone four, so many of us have committed a lot of time to making it happen. The village has been extremely helpful as well,” says Enes.
In addition to the Mamaroneck Shares board meetings, committees that Jackson refers to as the “ladies group,”—which include the heads of the partner charities—have been meeting regularly to handle PR, fundraising, and other important responsibilities.
“We’ve all come together to help out because it’s for a good cause, and because it helps the village. Restaurants aren’t the only one’s who have to gain from lots of people walking our streets. We did very well while these events were taking place,” says Enes, referring to the uptick in business he witnessed during last year’s events.
According to Jackson, many retail stores on the avenue reported record high sales during the events, including Radio Shack and Siren. However, restaurants on the avenue still stand to benefit the most from the events, particularly the ones occurring at night.
Restaurants, including , , Super Pan Bakery, and all have live outdoor music planned for the events. Mamaroneck Shares plans to sponsor a DJ as well.
The group fundraises year round in order to pay for the events and anyone can learn more about it on the Mamaroneck Shares facebook page.
Editor's Note: Cafe Mozart has been listed to a previous version of this article as a participating business in the Mamaroneck Shares' events.
