The Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce announces that Susan C. Vaccaro and Yash Risbud are its 2019 Citizens of the Year.
You’re invited to a dinner in their honor at Seasons Catering in the Township of Washington on Monday, May 20 from 6 to 10 p.m. Both a tricky tray and silent auction are planned.
According to GPVCOC President Robin Malley, the board and members are excited to announce the honorees, who have done so much for their communities and inspire by example.
A portion of the proceeds from the evening, the 45th Annual Citizen of the Year Dinner, will be used to fund the chamber’s annual scholarship program. Scholarships are given to students in seven local high schools.
Additional donations will go to charities the honorees designate.
Risbud is a lifelong Westwood resident who rallies around family events with his wife, Audrey, and their two children. If he is not at one of his son’s many games or daughter’s swim meets, he’s helping his local church, getting ready to run a successful upcoming baseball season, or better yet, visiting one of the local businesses in Westwood.
The chamber says online, “When families are suddenly faced with a life-changing event like an illness, Yash has come to the rescue in running fundraising efforts to support friends through a difficult time.”
He also serves his hometown community through a rich assortment of board appointments.
Vaccaro, a resident of the Pascack Valley for more than 45 years, has been extremely active in giving back to the Greater Pascack Valley community. Her accomplishments and activities include teaching Sunday School at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Park Ridge; a decade as co-chair of Relay for Life of the Pascack Valley; more than a decade as a River Vale Zoning and Joint Planning Board member; as long serving on the Sapienza Gardens Board of Trustees; and nearly 15 years as a member of the River Vale Centennial Committee.
She is known to many others for her work on River Vale CERT, as director and treasurer of the Kamil Kubik Foundation, as creator and presenter of the Anne M. Vaccaro Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor and memory of her sister, and so much more.
These bios just scratch the surface. For more on what Risbud and Vaccaro are being honored for, visit pascackchamber.org.
Tickets are available for anyone wishing to attend. The early bird price of $65 per person stands until April 19, after which admission is $75 per person. Payment due by May 1 to guarantee your reservation.
For tickets or advertisements in the night’s program, call Malley at (201) 666-0777, write GPVCOC[at]gmail.com, or visit PascackChamber.org.
Mail checks payable to GPVCOC to GPVCOC c/o Friedberg Properties, 213 Rivervale Road, River Vale, NJ 07675.
To donate in-kind gifts, contact Mike Fitzsimmons at WestwoodArtGallery[at]gmail.com or (201) 666-1800.
The Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the community—specifically in the Greater Pascack Valley.
The GPVCOC covers Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, Old Tappan, Oradell, Park Ridge, River Vale, Washington Township, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake.
It works with local chambers of commerce and sponsors such events as the Greater Pascack Valley Breakfast with the Mayors, college scholarships, business expos, Taco Tuesday, networking events, ribbon cuttings, and philanthropic events.
Seasons is at 644 Pascack Road.