Way to Go! Erica Sosman, Great Neck High School

A Great Neck South High School student has been honored for raising money and awareness so that underprivileged children can go to summer camp.

Erica Sosman, 17, a junior, received the Jefferson Award for Public Service from the Jefferson Awards Foundation and the SCOPE Young Leadership Award at a gala last month in Manhattan.

Among her efforts, she coordinated a spin-a-thon and swim-a-thon to aid charities — including SCOPE, which stands for “Summer Camp Opportunities Promote Education.” She learned of the nonprofit through Camps Equinunk & Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania, which she has attended for eight summers.

“I love camp and I love the fact I get to send kids to camp,” Sosman said. “Through the years I’ve been going to camp, I’ve learned a lot about myself.”

Participants in the spin-a-thon rode spin bikes for 45 minutes at Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills. The event raised $5,000 for SCOPE, Simon’s Fund and the Alexander Neuhaus Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Last year’s swim-a-thon at Camps Equinunk & Blue Ridge drew about 200 participants. A bowl-a-thon is planned for September, Sosman said.

Sosman is a peer health leader and a member of her school’s varsity golf team, the Distributive Education Clubs of America chapter and Midnight Run, a club that aids homeless people.

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.