Thursday Club Funds Dance Studio at St. Christopher's

Today the Thursday Club presented St. Christopher's, a Dobbs Ferry nonprofit, long committed to services for children and families, with a check for $70,000. The funds, raised through the club's annual benefit dinner-dance at Trump National Golf Club on April 10, will be used for a dance studio for the children --- part of St. Christopher's highly innovative approach to residential special education for adolescents who have significant emotional and educational disabilities.

"The Thursday Club selected St. Christopher's as its 2010 beneficiary in support of the important work it does by providing quality education, emotional support and a nurturing environment to adolescents with special needs," said Marilyn Dimling, president of The Thursday Club, a group of women devoted to community service. Since its founding in 1921, the Thursday Club has raised more than $1 million for charitable groups.

"Our membership was impressed with the high level of professional commitment demonstrated by the staff, as well as the high level of success St. Christopher's has had in helping its students thrive," Dimling added. The dance studio funded by the Thursday Club will be the springboard for a new performing arts center offering educational and therapeutic value for the children, many of whom have psychiatric issues and developmental disorders, including autism, which cause cognitive limitations.

Laura P. Midgley and Suzanne Poulin, both of Irvington, served as co-chairs of the event. In recent years Thursday Club beneficiaries included the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, Tarrytown Music Hall, Phelps Hospital and the Irvington Historical Society.

"On behalf of all of our students and staff - we would like to sincerely thank The Thursday Club - for their most kind and generous gift," said Dr. Robert Maher, St. Christopher's Executive Director.
" While many of our students are academically challenged - several possess great potential in the visual and performing arts. The Thursday Club Dance Studio at St. Christopher's will allow our boys and girls the chance to "shine" in ways that were not possible before."

About St. Christopher's:
Established more than 125 years ago, St. Christopher's is a private, not-for-profit, secular youth services agency with a rich history in serving the needs of vulnerable teens and their families. We are dedicated to providing quality special education and comprehensive, coordinated residential treatment to young men and women who require an educational program outside a mainstream secondary school setting.

About the Thursday Club:
The Thursday Club, founded in 1921, is a group of women who are committed to their community, to each other, and to the belief that friends working together with focus and compassion can improve the world around them. The agencies that have profited from the Thursday Club's efforts-social service, civic, cultural, environmental and health care-reflect both the wide range of interests and concerns of its members and the club's far-reaching impact.