Greenpoint

Greenpoint YMCA hosts 7th annual gala

The organization honors three North Brooklyn community leaders

October 7, 2024 Mandie-Beth Chau
Flyer courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA
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GREENPOINT — The Greenpoint YMCA is honoring three community leaders who embody the organization’s key themes at its seventh annual “Spirit of Community” Service Awards and Auction gala. 

The fundraiser will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at Giando on the Water, a local Italian restaurant with a view of the Manhattan skyline across the East River. The YMCA promises live music, dinner and an auction, with the evening serving as the organization’s largest annual fundraiser.

Proceeds from the gala support the YMCA’s programs that enrich and unite its community, including summer camp, swimming, early learning and afterschool programs. The organization supports the neighborhood by providing children with vital life skills to strengthen families and build vibrant communities. 

Charley Ryan, co-founder of Brooklyn Bowl. Photo courtesy of Greenpoint YMCA
Charley Ryan, co-founder of Brooklyn Bowl. Photo courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA

The YMCA provides programming for all ages, from infants to seniors. It describes itself as “a cornerstone of the community, offering programs and services that promote youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.”

The three honorees represent the YMCA’s mission to empower youth, improve health and strengthen community. Charley Ryan, Donna Siafakas and The International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees (ITASE) Local 52 Motion Picture Studio Mechanics, represented by Kevin Gilligan, the union’s business representative, will all be awarded for furthering the YMCA’s vision throughout North Brooklyn. 

Donna Siafakas of Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop. Photo courtesy of Greenpoint YMCA
Donna Siafakas of Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop. Photo courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA

Ryan was the general manager at Wetlands Preserve, an iconic New York City music venue that shuttered in 2001 after 12 years of hosting iconic performances in Tribeca. While there, Ryan met the venue’s owner, Peter Shapiro, and in 2009, the pair opened Brooklyn Bowl in the former Hecla Iron Works building. The venue is home to live music, food, 16 bowling lanes and bars, and expanded beyond the borders of Brooklyn into Las Vegas, Nashville and Philadelphia, making it a national treasure. The bars only serve Brooklyn-brewed beers, and the building was constructed using recycled materials and long-term climate-conscious machinery and equipment.

Donna Siafakas has been running Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop on Manhattan Ave. with her husband, Christos, since the early 1990s. Christos immigrated from Greece in the 1970s and worked in donut shops around the city, and Donna is a second-generation Greenpointer. The pair took over Peter Pan Donuts, a Greenpoint staple since the 1950s. All their donuts are made by hand.

IATSE was founded in the late nineteenth century in New York and represents live theater, motion picture and television production, trade shows and exhibitions, television broadcasting and concerts, even including the equipment and construction shops that support all the areas of the entertainment industry. The union boasts 168,000 workers, and the Local 52 represents 3,680 of those members. 

IATSE Local 52 will be honored. Photo courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA
IATSE Local 52 will be honored. Photo courtesy of the Greenpoint YMCA

Last year, the honorees included Congressmember Nydia Velazquez (D-NY7), Business Relationships Manager and Vice President of Apple Bank Debbie Hootam and Greenpointers publisher Julia Moak. 

Ticket and donation options are available on the YMCA’s website, along with more information about the gala.





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