Nickelodeon honors Long Island teen with

award

September 25, 2009 By BETH WHITEHOUSE  beth.whitehouse@newsday.com

The homecoming pep rally in the gym at Smithtown High School West Friday already was boisterous when a surprise celebrity guest sent things whirling into even more of a frenzy.

Actor, rapper and TV personality Nick Cannon - who is married to singer and Long Island native Mariah Carey - strolled in wearing a tux, bow tie undone and slung casually around his neck and white handkerchief poking out of the pocket.

"I came out here to put somebody in the spotlight," Cannon said to the amazed teenagers. "She took a negative situation and made it into a positive."

Smithtown West senior Leah Stoltz, 17, was shaking and crying and holding her hand over her face as Cannon called her out. School cheerleaders brought out a podium with "Halo Awards" on it and rolled out a red carpet.

Stoltz has scoliosis and had to wear a full-torso, hard plastic brace and have surgery to correct the curving of her spine. When she was 13 she started a support group on Long Island called "The Curvy Girls" to help affected girls feel less self-conscious. Eight "Curvy Girls" emerged to place a tiara on Stoltz's head and present her with red roses.

"Don't pass out, Leah," Cannon said. "Deep breath, deep breath."

Nickelodeon filmed the event for its "TeenNick Halo Awards," a one-hour special that will air later this year recognizing four teenagers for "Helping and Leading Others." He presented Stoltz with a $10,000 check for her organization and another $10,000 for her to use for college.

And there was more.

"This is a secret ticket to a secret location," Cannon said, handing Stoltz an envelope. "I can't tell you where you're going, but you're going to have an amazing time."

Where is she headed? Stay tuned.

Dear Congregants

I know that at this time of year, in the weeks in advance of Rosh Hashanah, we all get inundated with requests for donations to a number of worthy causes.  As your neighbor and fellow synagogue member, I am going to add to this list and ask you to (re)join MERCAZ USA, the Zionist arm of the Conservative Movement, for this new fiscal year of 5770 - 2009/2010.

Membership is important for MERCAZ for two key reasons:  first of all, it provides the moral justification for our ability, as the representatives of the Conservative Movement, to demand changes in Israeli society; and secondly, it provides the sole source of financial resources for our project work here in the United States on behalf of Zionist and Hebrew education, tourism to Israel and aliyah.

While membership is important in every year, it is especially important as we look forward in 2010 to the 36th World Zionist Congress.  At this moment, while the date of the international Zionist gathering has finally been set for June 2010, there is still no agreement as to how the delegates to the international Jewish parliament will be chosen.

One option that is being explored is calculating delegates on the basis of an organization's membership.  While this idea may ultimately not be the one adopted, I bring this to your attention as now is the time that the new fiscal year for MERCAZ membership is beginning.  Help us reach our maximum level of strength by (re)joining MERCAZ for the new 2009/2010 fiscal year!

Currently, there are 9,500 households, out of more than 200,000 Conservative Jewish households throughout the United States that are current paid-up MERCAZ USA members.  For a movement that has always prided itself on its support for Israel and Zionism, that's a poor showing.  With your help, we can give Israel and Zionism the kind of public support from our movement that they deserve.

Please see the enclosed membership application, with the information on the flip side of the extent of the financial benefits that MERCAZ brings to the institutions of Masorti Judaism in Israel and around the world.  A business reply form is enclosed for your use.  Or save the trees and renew on-line on our secure server at http://www.mercazusa.org.

During Tisha B'Av, as part of the liturgy, we prayed for the comfort of Zion and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  Let us do our part by strengthening the Zionist arm of the Conservative Movement!

Sincerely,

Gloria Cohen