During the annual meeting of the New York District Kiwanis Foundation Friday afternoon, foundation board member Herb Chan was honored as the first recipient of the Ivan Tarnopoll Award.

The new award will honor the memory of West Seneca member Ivan Tarnopoll, who paid for a life insurance policy which resulted in a payment of $500,000 to the foundation upon his death last year. His generosity has put the foundation and Kamp Kiwanis on the best financial footing it has had in many years.

Foundation President Sal Anelli said they want to permanently honor Tarnopoll's memory, and it was Past Gov. Joseph Eppolito who suggested creating the award to honor someone whose dedication and hard work have benefited Kamp Kiwanis even while they avoid the limelight.

Once the award itself has been determined, Anelli said he and Eppolito independently came up with the idea of giving to Chan, who is personally responsible for many of the construction projects which have been carried out at the kamp for the past several years but who usually deflects credit for what he does.

Three seats on the board were up for election. Chan and other incumbent board members Mike Siniski and Keith Cummings were elected to new three-year terms.

Club and divisions were honored for the number of kampers they sent to Kamp Kiwanis this summer.

The club winners were:

1. Peninsula, Hewlett: 61
2. Maspeth: 37
3. East Meadow: 23

The division winners:

1. Long Island Southwest: 83
2. Long Island South Central: 76
3. Queens West: 74

Foundation President Sal Anelli noted that the kampers designated as military kampers were not included in the totals because that was a separate program. The winning clubs and divisions sent military kampers to kamp as well.

Kamp Director Rebecca Clemence reported on the results for the 2019 kamping season:

• There were 76 kampers for the adult weeks, 9 more than last year.
• There were 641 kampers during the child weeks, 43 more than a year ago.
• 42 teens participated in the Teen Program.
• 90 kampers, or 14 percent, had special needs.
• There were 99 kampers who had a native language other than English
• There were 137 military kampers.
• There were 57 staff from 15 different countries.

Anelli noted that Gov. Hank Baker's effort to raise money to send children of active duty military members to kamp was a success beyond what had been expected.

The project started with a goal of 100 military kampers, and was quickly expanded to 150. He reported the total now exceeds 300, and more money is still being donated. That many children couldn't be accommodated in a single season, so the unspent funds will be used for military kampers in future years.