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The PRWRC bestowed the honor, along with $1,000, upon Antonelle on Wednesday, May 29 at the school’s Recognition Night or Graduating Seniors.
“Gigi is an accomplished young woman whose uncanny ability to rally and inspire others embodies Wilma’s spirit of community service and activism,” said Camille Prisco, co-chair of the scholarship committee.
Antonelle brought the Relay for Life, a fundraiser that benefits the American Cancer Society, to Katonah and Lewisboro and she became the event chair for the Relay for Life of Katonah-Lewisboro Community Volunteer Committee.
Her efforts started bake sales, benefit concerts and car washes and she generated more than $177,000 for cancer research and prevention programs. The Katonah-Lewisboro chapter of the Relay for Life also earned the American Cancer Society’s “The Rookie Event of the Year Award,” one of its highest honors.
Antonelle also founded the Relay for Life Club at John Jay High School.
The senior was the captain of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester Swim Team in 2012-13 and the John Jay High School Swim and Dive Team in 2012. Antonelle was also elected as the Co-Secretary for the Class of 2013 and was Campus Congress Representative for four consecutive years from ninth through 12th grades.
On top of all that, Antonelle excelled in her Advanced Placement and Honors classes. She will attend Syracuse University in the fall and will major in Journalism.
The PRWRC established the scholarship in March 2012 in memory of Wilma C. Rogalin, a former president of the club who often volunteered in numerous Republican Party politics at the local, state and federal levels. She also worked for nearly 40 years with Pan American World Airways, where she achieved the position of Global Corporate Director of Human Resource and Labor Relations.
Furthermore, Rogalin was appointed as chair of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in the Armed Services, where she worked for women’s rights in the military. The New York State Senate honored her as a “Woman of Distinction” in 2000 and posthumously inducted her into the New York State Women of Distinction Hall of Fame in 2012.
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