By Helaina Hovitz

April was a big month for downtown, especially in the green department—which also happens to be the color of money, which is usually heavily involved.

At the Bowery Hotel on April 23rd, the African Rainforest Conservancy hosted its 22nd Annual Artists for Africa Benefit.

The first man I saw, wearing a pink sarong as a skirt, was Carter Coleman, President of the Conservancy’s Board of Directors. He offered sage advice for those of us who want to go green.

“If New Yorkers are concerned about climate change, they should plant a tree in the rainforest, donate to us so we can plant one, or plant one themselves in New York City,” he said.

Executive Director Whitney Larkin, donning a nude dress and an African headpiece she “wrapped herself,” gave similarly unique advice.

“Poachers, cutting trees, and killing animals are the biggest dangers in the rainforest today, so we’re re-training people to be beekeepers and butterfly famers.”

Nearby was Nicole Miller, who said that though she didn’t plan the party, she was asked to emcee.

“Lauren Hutton is hosting, but I guess it was too much talking for one person,” she reasoned.

Her gold and brown dress was stunning, and, of course, of her own making. “I was trying to look a little rainforesty,” she said.

If that’s the predominant color of the rainforest these days, then this event didn’t come a moment too soon.

Renowned artist Spencer Turic’s framed photograph stood out most, depicting nearly thirty women, naked, seated on top of boulders and embracing with legs intertwined.

“My wife always poses for me. She’s my first choice and my last resort,” Turic explained.

Turic wore a choker necklace made of tiny black skulls, which he said was made from “people who have posed for me.”

Now that’s what I call recycling.

Before bidding him adieu, I asked where he lived.

“Rockland County!” He said enthusiastically, punching the air.

“And proud of it, apparently!” I mused.

“Not really,” he said, his face falling.

No doubt he’d rather be downtown.

I started to feel a little disappointed—there I was with my snake bracelet and ridiculously large butterfly ring, and only a few other people seemed to take note of the “Out of Africa” theme.

Then actress Maria Bello walked in, and though the outfit wasn’t exactly ethnic, it was, quite literally, Out of Africa.

“We designed this coat in Kenya in a camp with the Messiah. When you get hot (which it undoubtedly does, in Kenya) you can take it off and hang it here—” she said, tossing it off of her shoulders where it then hung from suspenders. “The women in the camps, in traditional dress, were asking us how big we like a man’s ‘organ’ in our country, so we were passing around a napkins shaped like a man’s ‘organ’ to figure out how big we liked it.”

I figured that statement couldn’t be topped, and made my exit.

Similarly themed was Boss Models 25 Year Anniversary Party at the DL Rooftop (95 Delancey Street). The space was pretty sweet, featuring a glass sun roof, colorfully lit pink and blue leafy palm trees, and a fountain trickling in the center of the room by the DJ booth. Though I’m not sure why, one corner of the room was inexplicably filled with colorful, pastel portraits of Bob Marley and others. From there, things got a bit more confusing when staff began laying a ten-foot-long yellow brick road runway down, caddy-cornered by the art. Shortly thereafter, eight models depicting various characters from the Wizard of Oz (a shirtless tin man, some random powder blue suit wearing heavyset girl with a gold face mask), strutted back and forth…and back…and forth…for over thirty minutes. For all we know, they’re still following the yellow brick road (and may not have even been at the right party). Those poor models—I hope they found their way home.

Shun the conventional dates this Feb. 14

Whether you’ve been with your significant other for a while or you’re spending Valentine’s Day with someone you just met on the train—or even if you’re single but ready to mingle—you don’t want to go on the same old boring dates year after year. If you’re into committing a charitable act, being spontaneous, devouring sweet treats or doing all three, Our Town has the hookups to guarantee your Valentine’s Day—and week—is as saucy and unconventional as possible.

Donate Blood
What’s sexier than banding together to save lives? What’s more straight-from-the-heart than your own blood? Especially after Hurricane Sandy, which has driven the demand for blood in the city higher than ever. Visit the New York Blood Center’s website to schedule a blood donation or find a drive in your area. If you’re a little woozy post-donation, you can cling to one another as you sip from paper cups of apple juice and nibble on cookies.
nybloodcenter.org

Cupid’s Undie Run
If you want to bond this Valentine’s Day weekend without your clothes on, consider Cupid’s (one-mile) Undie Run through Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. The run will take place Feb. 9 at 2:30 p.m. and includes a post-run celebration at the Brass Monkey bar. All proceeds from the event benefit the Children’s Tumor Foundation. Who ever said stripping down couldn’t be charitable in more ways than one? cupidsundierun.com/NYC

Craigslist It Up
If you and your other half want to spice things up this year, consider posting a “missed connection,” “casual encounter” or personal ad to each other on Craigslist. Be smart with this one; while it’s always fun to be spontaneous and a bit exhibitionistic, remember Craigslist is a public forum and whatever you post is definitely not for your eyes only. craigslist.com

Literary Speed-Dating
If you’re a part of that “still looking for a date” crowd—and maybe just a little bit nerdy—the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho has just the event for you. On Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., the bookstore will be hosting “literary speed-dating” for those who would “rather be judged by their book cover.” While the event is currently sold out, it’s still possible to get on the waiting list, and the bookstore guarantees more similar, coveted events in the future for those who sign up.
126 Crosby St.; housingworks.org/bookstore

The OkCupid Show
Want to learn what not to do this Valentine’s Day? The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe is also hosting a night of dating-horror-storytelling with writers from big-name magazines sharing stories on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. Consider this a primer on how to behave this V-Day whether you’re meeting someone from the Internet or not.

Gelato Workshop
If you just want to get straight to the sweet stuff this holiday, consider a gelato/sorbet workshop class with your date at Mia Chef Gelateria in Murray Hill. The gelateria hosts 14 different evening classes all through February where expert artisans teach the ancient art of gelato-making. Bring home the fruits of your labor to spoon feed each other while you cuddle up on the love seat in front of your favorite romantic flick.
gelatomia.com

Beginner Salsa Classes
Get intimate with that special someone on this year’s day of love by engaging in a little spicy salsa action (no, not the eating kind). Baila Tango in Midtown West hosts $20 beginner salsa classes for four evening dates in February. Learn the basics from an expert and wow your date on the dance floor with your new moves … or giggle flirtatiously as you stumble over each other’s feet and collapse clumsily into each other’s arms.
bailatango.com

Lynn Zises and Douglas Krugman, a husband and wife team, launched Web Thrift Store this past year, and now they have 13 participating charities, including several directed toward helping schoolchildren, such as Class Wish—an organization where people donate supplies to classrooms across the nation—and Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, which brings the arts to children in Northern Manhattan.

“It’s a great way for people to get rid of stuff they don’t use,” said Zises. “It’s a no-brainer for them, a win-win.”

It’s simple, she said. The donor signs up, lists an item and asking price, and then delivers the item to the buyer. The buyer’s money goes to the listed charity, and the donor gets a tax deduction.
Zises and Krugman came up with the idea of Web Thrift Store a couple of years ago when she and her husband realized that they had too much “extra stuff” and nowhere to donate it. Most charities want cash, not goods, and many of the better thrift stores, she said, have closed, because brick-and-mortar locations are expensive to run. That’s how the idea of an online thrift store with no middleman for distributing goods was born. Since they launched it in January 2012, Web Thrift Store has raised over $20,000 for charities.

“The charities have been incredibly enthusiastic,” Zises said. “Every single day, we get requests to participate from nonprofits.”

Many of the participating charities deal either directly or indirectly with education: East River Development Alliance, for example, a New York-based charity designed to help residents in need, including children, achieve their goals; and Generation Rescue, which helps autistic children get the treatment and therapies that they need.

Robert Tolmach, a representative from Classwish, says that the over $1,000 that has been donated to their charity through Web Thrift Store has really made a difference.

“I’ve never seen anything like them before,” said Tolmach. “They’re really committed to the idea. They want to go out and use modern business practices to change the world.”

Web Thrift Store intends on making sure that education is helped in a more direct way as well. Zises says that by the end of the year, smaller charities will be able to participate in a self-sign-up, and people will have the opportunity to donate to individual schools.

The volunteers who commit their time to Zani’s Furry Friends rescue group may share their devotion to animals, but they themselves cannot be pigeonholed. 

They come on Sunday mornings, bags in tow, to the PetCo on the Upper East Side. They assemble and stack crates, pull cats from meowing, thrashing bags and set up camp. They bicker over which cat goes where and who gets what blanket until everything is meticulously in place.

Michelle, a regular volunteer, ties ribbons around the cats’ necks. She calls it the “beautification process.”

“The ribbons can be controversial,” she says. “I think ribbons are the least of these cats’ worries.”

Then they spend the day trying to get the cats adopted.

They are an NYU professor who speaks six languages, a trained psychoanalyst, a CEO of a high finance company and students struggling to afford college or even make it into the city to volunteer their time. One woman works in fashion, another works in a government office, one is a hospice nurse, one a former journalist. They worry about their children and have passions unrelated to animals, they discuss the significance of astrological signs and planetary activity, they pride themselves on being good judges of character.

One volunteer, Jacqui, who regularly shows up in heels, smelling of honeysuckle or jasmine, says: “I can’t paint or draw, so I dress up.”

But don’t ever ask these women how many cats they own at any given time; they won’t tell you. They’ve learned the hard way. When you’re in rescue, you don’t tell people how many cats you have packed away at home, rotating in and out of the fickle system.

You get strange looks, people shy away and the neighbors in your co-op start to wonder. As one woman says, when you work in rescue — with groups like Zani’s, which take pets off the euthanasia list — you do not choose which pets to adopt. You adopt the un-adoptable.

And yes, for the most part, these volunteers are all women. Several note they got involved at a point when they felt they needed a change in their lives.

Tiffani, a 17-year-old volunteer with Zani’s who commutes from the Bronx, explains: “There are a lot of volunteers who come and go, but no guys. I think we freak them out.”

She adds: “I saw a guy volunteering one time. I came back and he was out the door.”

Valerie, Zani’s expert on cat behavior and nutrition, explains women tend to be more drawn to cats in general.

“Women, especially older women, get into cats, when they’re not valued by society in the same way,” she says. “Cats are warm and affectionate — they fill a void.”

Valerie is careful to distinguish between those who hoard cats as they might other material possessions — the stereotypical “crazy cat lady” — and many of the women in rescue.

“I’m not a crazy cat lady,” she emphasizes.

Valerie, who originally got involved with rescue because she was looking for something to do, says she keeps her place clean and wants few possessions. She concedes sometimes, however, she finds herself wearing a “blanket of cats” while watching television.

Further, Valerie explains there’s an adage that tends to ring true — when you’re young you want a dog, when you mature you want a cat. Despite any stereotypes, cats, like one or two of Valerie’s, still have the potential to be incredibly needy. Cats are very social creatures, just not perhaps in the way we understand — or desire — socialization.

They may have prodigious knowledge of the animal world, but Jacqui says Zani’s volunteers are really just regular people.

She describes a fundraising benefit Zani’s threw the night before our interview, complete with cabaret acts. “Someone called us the prettiest girls in rescue,” Jacqui says.

A few other volunteers scoff at this remark, betraying their no-nonsense attitude. “There’s a reason we’re no-nonsense,” says Valerie, when I point this out. “We go through hell.”

“I don’t know, Anjellicle [Cats Rescue] is very pretty,” offers another. Anjellicle, a “competitor” to Zani’s, occupies the temporary PetCo home on Saturday afternoons. Unlike Anjellicle, Zani’s also rescues dogs and the occasional rabbit or bird.

Dismayed perusers often come in looking to hold the cuddly kittens Anjellicle shows. Zani’s peppers their cages with signs forbidding all but the most interested from touching their cats, as illnesses are easily spread to the stressed animals.

Young people, who adopt from shelters, tend to enjoy the playfulness of a young kitten, but sometimes they return the cats when the animals age and lose their liveliness or when the pet would rather play with another kitten and have nothing to do with its owner. Zani’s does everything in its power to combat this mentality.

“People don’t really understand cat behavior,” says Valerie, “but once you get it, you get it.” She explains a cat’s head-butt is the ultimate sign of love and respect.

Valerie points to a statistic about Americans: approximately 70 percent of Americans say they prefer dogs, while something like 25 percent prefer cats.

Yet cats have overtaken dogs statistically as pets in the United States. The seeming discrepancy is explained by the fact that cat-owners tend to own more than one cat.

The hands-on experience of showing the cats in-store is essential, as rescue groups like Zani’s have saturated the internet market. Pictures and bios of the animals, written and rewritten tirelessly by volunteers, also play a critical role in whether an animal will be placed. Valerie says people respond best to visual depictions.

Sometimes which cats will get adopted — if any — just depends on the day.

One woman browses the cats while I talk to the volunteers. I ask if she’s interested in adopting. “I’ve got eight animals,” she says, sheepishly, “but it’s so hard not to look.” Others meander by and stuff dollar bills into the group’s donation jars.

Jacqui says the group is financially indebted to their veterinarian. Besides squatting at PetCo once a weekend, Zani’s operates entirely out of volunteers’ apartments.

The founder and executive director of Zani’s, who asked to remain anonymous, started volunteering at the ACC of NYC shelter years back when she realized “the real need is in rescue.” While working at the shelter and for a rescue group, she was told she was too good, and needed to form her own organization. Allergic to cats at the time, she began her own dogs-only group, and says Zani’s grew from there.

She adds cat rescue is like the mafia. “Once you’re in, you can’t get out,” she says, while clipping a cat’s nails. (She often clips the nails of passersby’s pets or offers up solicited — or unsolicited — pet advice.)

For all its struggles, Zani’s has just as many success stories, including adoptive parents who write in to thank Zani’s, saying their newfound pets have been more therapeutic than they could have imagined.

“They rescue us more than we rescue them,” explains Jacqui.

Volunteer Maria Fabian weighs food to be given out at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew on West 86th Street.

West Side Campaign Against Hunger passes goal in Thousand Turkey Challenge

West Side Campaign Against Hunger stocked a special item in their pantry this past week: a whole lot of turkeys. The nonprofit, located in the basement of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew at 262 W. 86th St., co-sponsored the second annual Thousand Turkey Challenge, a turkey drive organized by local religious groups to provide holiday meals for at-need families.

“You’re seeing us at our most chaotic. We’re not usually this messy,” promised Stewart Desmond, incoming WSCAH executive director, as he gave a quick tour of the bustling basement pantry on Monday during the busiest meal time. Patrons pushed small carts and chatted mostly in Spanish while volunteers checked out finished shoppers and ushered in others seated in the large basement waiting area. Unlike a soup kitchen, Desmond explained, patrons at WSCAH’s pantry choose their meals from well-stocked shelves based on a point system that allows for a certain amount of grains, protein, vegetables and so forth. Then they cook the food at their own apartments.

“We live in a progressive community that wants to help people in the most progressive way possible,” Desmond said. “A pantry like this that gives people some dignity represents the values of the Upper West Side. We’re something the Upper West Side can be proud of.”

At the basement’s far end, a table with members of the Society of the Advancement of Judaism and West End Synagogue, the drive’s two founders, collected turkeys for the pantry from Upper West Side donors. Last year, the members said, the organizations collected several hundred turkeys and raised over $10,000 from cash donations, which allowed them to provide holiday meals for over 1,700 families. This year, Desmond estimated that they would raise over 1,000 turkeys from Nov. 15 to 21, the drive’s dates. He noted that they also provide hams and cooked chickens to smaller families.

Chris Gill, a volunteer at a check-out counter who has been involved with WSCAH for about 10 years, said that the pantry was providing an essential service to the city’s community in hard economic times. “Famine is serious,” he asserted. “If it wasn’t for pantries, they’d have to open more jails. There’d be a lot more crime. The rate of unemployment, the lack of food stamps—that would cause havoc. There would be a lot more policemen standing in front of doors.”

Many shoppers agreed that the pantry was providing a good service. Bronx resident and pantry regular Roger Beddoe complained that the 1.5-hour line this time of year was “crazy, ridiculous,” but perked up at the prospect of turkey. “Yeah,” he said, “it’s worth the wait.”

This year, Dan’s Papers is honored to announce that culinary legend Jean-Georges Vongerichten will host the event. Joining him in the fete as the ambassador of taste will be Paris-trained apparel designer Nicole Miller, who has just been named food critic of The Daily Dan.

Dan’s Taste of Two Forks will be held at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton. VIP admittance will be 6:30-7:30 p.m., with general admission from 7:30-10 p.m.

With the bash falling on Bastille Day, French native Vongerichten will celebrate the festivities with true gastronomic French flare. An award-winning chef, legendary author and influential restaurateur, Vongerichten has been a frequent Hamptons visitor for many years, and he is known worldwide for his culinary prowess.

“I am honored to host the second annual Dan’s Taste of Two Forks,” says Vongerichten. “It is always a pleasure to be amongst a group of gifted chefs and fine restaurants.”

The inaugural Taste of Two Forks was a smashing success in 2011, as the sold-out evening offered guests a first-time chance to experience a stellar lineup of the East End’s culinary masters all in one location. The 2012 event promises to include a similarly celebrated list of attendees across both Forks. Culinary giants Georgica, 1770 House, Luce + Hawkins, Race Lane, Nick & Toni’s, Southampton Social Club, Cittanuova, Southfork Kitchen, 75 Main, Amarelle, Beaumarchais East Hampton, Navy Beach, Rumba Rum Bar, Southampton Publick House and Smokin’ Wolf BBQ are among the participants.

“There are some amazing restaurants on the East End—with access to fresh produce and seafood, the quality is always excellent,” explains Miller. “It’s wonderful to celebrate with Dan’s Taste of Two Forks the talented and diverse chefs and vineyards on the East End.”

As in 2011, this year’s benefiting charity will be the Have a Heart Community Trust, a charitable organization dedicated to providing emergency relief to East Enders during times of personal or family hardship. Partnering with local not-for-profits, Have a Heart is able to give financial assistance to help people reclaim their lives with dignity, as they work with residents from Riverhead to Montauk across both Forks.

Dan’s Taste of Two Forks is produced by Manhattan Media, the owner of Dan’s Papers. Manhattan Media publishes several lifestyle magazines in the Hamptons and Manhattan, including Dan’s Papers, The Daily Dan, Avenue Magazine, New York Family and West Side Spirit. This year’s presenting sponsor is Farrell Building Company, the luxury homebuilders of the Hamptons. Other premier sponsors include Lincoln, TOWN Residential, Citarella, Hampton Jitney, Southampton Publick House, Smart Water, Dutch Petals, Design by DiMichaels and the Long Island Wine Council.

www.tasteoftwoforks.com, 631-287-0188

Overview
Place: Sayre Park, 154 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton
Date: Saturday, July 14

Time: 6:30-7:30 p.m. (VIP) and
7:30-10:00 p.m. (GA)

Ticket Prices: VIP $225,
General Admission $150

Benefiting Charity:
Have a Heart Community Trust

By Gavin Aronsen

Hunger is on the rise on the Upper West Side.

Volunteers at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger prepared for one of its busiest periods of the year on a recent Tuesday, as they managed their final delivery of food just before Thanksgiving week.

The holidays are one of the busiest times at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

The campaign runs an emergency food-pantry program located at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on West 86th Street. Last month, representatives from the food pantry said that it saw a 31-percent rise in people from the same period a year before to more than 8,200 this year, and this month is expected to be even busier.

Since the recession in 2008 there has been a nearly 50-percent increase in the number of people seeking food at the pantry, according to Doreen Wohl, the program’s executive director.

“People’s need for food is all year round,” Wohl said. “The wider community only wakes up to this at Thanksgiving and at Christmastime.”

Most weeks, the pantry is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with Tuesdays reserved for receiving new shipments of food. But next week, it will be open Monday through Wednesday and closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday so volunteers and staff have time to spend with their families.

People in need of assistance come to the pantry once a month, where they are given their choice of healthy foods to last about three days. It is disbursed based on a point system designed to provide a proper balance among the different food groups.

A chef nutritionist, Mark D’Alessandro, runs a 12-week cooking course to teach those interested how to prepare meals, who in turn help others who come to the pantry in need.

Stewart Desmond, the program’s development director, said despite perceptions that the economy has taken a turn for the better, the need for food among low-income people continues to grow, even on the generally well-off Upper West Side.

He predicted that next week would be “overwhelming” but that staff and volunteers would be prepared.

The pantry, one of the city’s largest emergency food programs, relies on city, state and federal funding as well as cash and in-kind donations from community members and religious organizations. Still, Wohl said the demand for food has overwhelmed the program’s budget.

Shirley Brevard, a 15-year volunteer with the program, said she expects to see lines stretching a block away to Broadway next week as eager families hope to receive Thanksgiving turkeys.

“You’re going to hear them asking tomorrow,” said Carrie Fair, who has volunteered at the pantry for the past 12 years.

Although Wohl said the resources do not exist to provide everyone a turkey, she said staff and volunteers are working to ensure that healthy meals will be available next week for those in need.

Said Brevard, who is used to seeing wall-to-wall lines even on typical days, “We don’t really disappoint them.”

“Next week is going to be crazy, but we love it,” she said.

Wohl said the pantry is typically busier around Thanksgiving than Christmas because more places tend to provide food assistance for the latter holiday.

For more information, visit www.wscah.org.

By Rochana Rapkins

At 141 W. 73rd St., Upper West Side locals congregate to try their hand at belly dancing, yoga, strength training, tai chi, swimming, poetry and art. Visitors can also learn how to prevent falls in their homes, receive Medicare support and receive protection from rent increases.

Aaron De Broux, director of the Hamilton Senior Center, said when his family went away on vacation without him, he began to understand what it’s like to live alone.

Each month, up to 2,700 seniors come to the Hamilton Senior Center to exercise, share a meal and socialize. At the center’s helm is director Aaron De Broux.

“I do what I do from the heart, and that’s what draws me to not-for-profits,” said De Broux. “Anyone working for not-for-profits knows it’s not for the money. You have to love the people.”

Seniors at the center, which was established through Project FIND, appear to return the love.

“He’s the best that we’ve had since my time here. And I’ve been here going on 14 years,” said Nelly Holm, a senior citizen who volunteers at the center. “If anything arises that needs looking after, he’s there. He always approaches everything with care, concern and compassion.”

De Broux, 47, holds an engineering degree from Hampton University, but could not find work when he got married and moved to New York 27 years ago. But he was willing to take any job he could get, and worked his way up from dishwasher to sous chef at Michael’s Restaurant. He went on to work as a chef in the catering business for five years.

As he moved up the ladder, De Broux also returned to his roots.

“I learned how to cook from an early age from my grandmother and my mother, and I just put that to work,” he said.

Eventually, he decided to get out of the business world and started cooking for the Boy Scouts of America and Friends for Life, an organization that supports people with HIV and other life-threatening diseases. He also served on the board of directors for The Olive Branch, an international organization that serves HIV-positive children. When he read about the dire conditions that some senior citizens were living under, he decided it was time for a change.

At the Hamilton Senior Center, De Broux injected new energy into the center and bumped up membership. The center now serves upwards of 2,400 senior citizens each month. On Thanksgiving, it expects to dish up traditional fare to nearly 200 seniors.

Yet it wasn’t until his family went away on vacation without him that the importance of socialization hit home.

“I sat there and realized it is awkward to be here by myself,” he said. “It’s awkward and a little scary. And you think that is how people feel when their loved ones pass away and they’re on their own. You can’t just sit in the house all the time; you need to get out and be social.”

Senior citizen Eve Moravec, who helps out at the center, has known De Broux for over 10 years.

“We should all have bosses like him,” she said. “He is very understanding, and he has time to listen to you if you are upset. And he appreciates you. If people appreciate you, you put in more effort and don’t mind overextending.”

“I love him, even if I’m old enough to be his grandmother,” she added. “He’s a doll.”

By Regina Molaro

Through his work with The Toby Project, Dr. Andrew Kaplan is doing his share to eradicate pet overpopulation in New York City.

Kaplan, 46, is also the founder of City Veterinary Care, the Upper West Side’s source for medical care and treatment for dogs and cats. He founded The Toby Project, a non-profit dedicated to eradicating pet overpopulation in the city, a few years ago. Kaplan was awarded a WESTY Award for the work he has done through The Toby Project.

Veterinarian Dr. Andrew Kaplan is fighting animal overpopulation, and named his non-profit after a dog he saved from a city shelter.

The project provides free and low-cost spaying and neutering for dogs and cats in low-income communities. In an effort to reduce animal shelter populations, the group’s mobile surgical truck travels from neighborhood to neighborhood trying to prevent the breeding of animals who might otherwise end up in the shelter system, in peril of termination should no adoptive home be found for them.

“This country has a dramatic pet population problem, whereby the supply of dogs and cats heavily outweighs the demand,” Kaplan said. “The way our shelters ‘address’ this problem is to adopt out however many they can and, sadly enough, kill the rest… It is well-documented that low-income areas contribute the most pets to municipal shelters, so we bring the surgical trucks directly to them for spay/neuter and effectively limit reproduction.”

Without the availability of such free and low-cost services, it is likely that many residents of these communities would not be able to afford to spay/neuter their pets.

Kaplan, whose veterinary clinic promotes education, explains that spaying female dogs early in life also markedly reduces the risk of breast cancer. Male dogs that are neutered early are less likely to develop prostate cysts and infections, he said. Those same male dogs are easier to train.

It is very rewarding for Kaplan to know that the work he is doing through The Toby Project is making a difference. The organization received its non-profit status in 2005, and launched the first, and only, truck in February 2009. Since then, the group has succeeded in performing nearly 5,000 surgeries. “We have a lot more to do, but we’re doing what we know works when it comes to reducing the shelter population,” said Kaplan, who reports that each year in the U.S., about 5 million animals lives’ are taken.

Through his work, Kaplan aims to perform 25,000 surgeries per year and expand the service so that his non-profit organization can eventually provide full-time services to each borough of New York City.

“I love animals and it pains me to think of all these healthy dogs and cats dying every day for lack of homes,” said Kaplan. This all came out of the veterinarian’s love for Toby, a mixed-breed that he adopted from a shelter the day he was scheduled to be killed. This passionate animal lover and animal-welfare advocate also shares his home with Griff, another mixed-breed dog.

During his leisure time, Dr. Kaplan enjoys a variety of hobbies, including skiing, swimming, hiking, camping, cycling and sailing. He is also fond of New York City’s lively culture. He has been a resident of the Upper West Side for 10 years and a business owner for seven.

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke

Doreen Wohl was surprised to discover another side to the United States when she came here from England in 1953 with the American Friends Service Committee to work with migrant farm workers in Pennsylvania.

“I grew up during the war and the idea of America was that it was the land of milk and honey,” said Wohl, 77. “It came as a real shock but also a very important introduction to the United States to realize that you could exist without realizing there was such poverty.”

Doreen Wohl, director of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, said she didn’t expect to find poverty in the U.S. when she moved here in 1953.

In 1993, Wohl took over as director of West Side Campaign Against Hunger, an emergency food pantry that started in 1979 in the basement of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on 86th Street and Broadway. Soon after, Wohl instituted fundamental changes to the system.

Instead of distributing pre-packed bags of food to the needy customers, Wohl began setting the food up as in a supermarket and using a point system so that customers could choose what they needed based on household size. Eligible people, those whose salaries fall below the poverty line, are able to come once a month and get enough food for each member of their household for three days.

One day shortly after Wohl started, she found herself shorthanded. She went upstairs to the line of people waiting to receive emergency provisions and asked if anyone was available to help. From then on, the food pantry has used customer volunteers. Wohl sees this as an integral aspect of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger.

“When people first come here, they never expected to have to come to a church for emergency food. They are not feeling good about it,” said Wohl. “But when you invite people to help, they leave and get thanked for helping out. It really changes the dynamic. “

“It’s good to help other people, you know, one hand washes the other. When you walk out, you can hold your head up high,” Sherri Mitchell, 32, said after her first time volunteering.

Most customers volunteer when they come to pick up food, and some come almost every day to help out.

In 2000, Wohl was able to add social services. The campaign now works with about 10 different agencies to provide services in addition to food.

“When people come for emergency food, it’s really the tip of the iceberg,” said Wohl. “People may be eligible for more social services but not know that they are.”

New customers are given appointments with social services and advice on the options available to them. Depending on their needs, they may be given follow-up appointments and attention. In addition to social workers, there are also organizations on hand to provide services such as legal aid, advice on health care, budget counseling and nutrition information.

Chef Mark D’Alessandro teaches a 12-week culinary and nutrition class as part of the Wellness program. D’Alessandro studied at the French Culinary Institute and taught at Le Cordon Bleu before coming to work at the hunger campaign three years ago.

“It is really a team effort,” said Wohl. “The staff and the volunteers all work together to make everything run smoothly.”