The Sharing Shelf, the nonprofit clothing bank serving children and teens in need in Westchester County, honored four of its outstanding volunteers at its Fall Luncheon at the Coveleigh Club in Rye on Friday, October 23.
The four honorees, pictured at right surrounding Deborah Blatt (center), Founder and Executive Director of The Sharing Shelf, are (left to right): Lisa Blau of Armonk; Nicole Allen of New Rochelle; Alicia Ifshin of Armonk, and Maria Guarnieriof Rye. The four honorees represent the variety of ways that volunteers become involved with and pivotal to The Sharing Shelf. They are briefly described as follows:
· Lisa Blau of Armonk is one of The Sharing Shelf’s longest-serving volunteers. She initially volunteered alongside her children, who grew up volunteering for The Sharing Shelf. She now gives time around her work schedule, carefully selecting and packing clothing that children and teens will feel proud to wear.
· Nicole Allen of New Rochelle first became involved through a sorority clothing drive and a Teen Boutique event at New Rochelle High School. She now makes volunteering a weekly priority, preparing personalized clothing packs and helping teens find outfits that make them feel confident.
· Alicia Ifshin of Armonk began as a clothing donor and sometimes volunteers more than 30 hours a week. She has dramatically streamlined The Sharing Shelf’s baby room and, with her husband, established a five-year matching challenge to fund new clothing purchases where donations fall short.
· Maria Guarnieriof Rye is The Sharing Shelf’s longest-serving volunteer, with more than a decade of service. She has helped The Sharing Shelf grow from a small operation by taking on a wide range of roles: among them, sorting and packing clothing, serving on committees, leading volunteer groups, and responding to needs after hours.
The Fall Luncheon featured a panel discussion with the four volunteers, discussing why volunteering at The Sharing Shelf is so meaningful and so crucial to our mission. The panel discussion was moderated by Tony Aiello, Emmy Award-winning reporter for CBS News New York, shown at right moderating the panel discussion.
“Our volunteers make everything we do at The Sharing Shelf possible,” said Deborah Blatt. “Our Fall Luncheon honorees are outstanding in every way, and they are also representative of the more than 800 people who volunteer with us each year, for whom we are enormously grateful.”
The Sharing Shelf fulfilled clothing requests in 2025 for 9,134 children and teens from 145 nonprofits, schools, and government agencies. To fulfill its mission, The Sharing Shelf depends on more than 800 unique volunteers each year, who fill more than 2,100 volunteer slots (of 2.5-3.0 hours each) annually. Those volunteers provide in total more than 5,500 hours of selfless support: sorting donated clothing, organizing and shelving them, filling requested packs of clothing, providing inventory control, managing and storing off-season clothing, and so much more.
Additional information is available at www.sharingshelf.org. Information on how to volunteer is available at www.sharingshelf.org/get-involved/volunteer-in-our-clothing-bank.