Mariana Boneo & John Farris Selected for MLK Jr. Awards

Celebration is January 9, 7:30 pm at Emelin

by April Farber

(January 3, 2008) Two Mamaroneck Village activists, Mariana Boneo and John Farris, have been selected by the Mamaroneck-Larchmont Human Rights Commission to be honored at the twenty-first annual celebration in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Emelin Theater on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 7:30 pm.

Mariana Boneo

John Farris

This year's program, entitled, "No Struggles, No Gains," speaks to many of life's challenges. One lens for "no struggle, no gain" is that of the American civil rights movement. This aspect will be addressed by the keynote speaker, Patricia Gatling, currently chair of the Human Rights Commission of the City of New
York. (See: NYC Human Rights Leader To Speak at MLK Ceremony: Jan 9)

Another aspect of "no struggles, no gain" are the efforts undertaken by the two Martin Luther King, Jr. award recipients, who have worked tirelessly over time to help the community and its members gain well-being through their efforts. Mariana Boneo serves the community as the leader of a local social service agency, the Hispanic Resource Center. She has both assisted in the continuance of the center and tried to mediate when the Village of Mamaroneck and local day laborers were at odds. She also was instrumental in organizing the efforts of many who helped bring the community and its residents through the March floods.

John Farris, a life-long resident of Mamaroneck, was also selected for the award because of a long history of compassionate assistance to members of the community. Among his accomplishments: he co-founded the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation, helped residents and raised emergency funds during the spring floods, and helped with the installation of the new children's park at Harbor Island. In creating the park, he brought together members of various segments of Larchmont and Mamaroneck to create a place for children from all neighborhoods to play with each other.

The public is cordially invited to attend this free event, to hear from Ms. Gatling and to get to know the award winners. There will be additional performances by local school groups and refreshments will be served at the end of the program.

April Farber is the chair of the Mamaroneck-Larchmont Human Rights Commission.

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