Way to Go!: Brookville teen receives $36G award

A Brookville teenager who started a nonprofit that provides sports equipment to disadvantaged youths has received a $36,000 award for her leadership and commitment to social good.

Sara Blau, 17, a senior at Schechter School of Long Island's Upper School in Williston Park, is one of 15 Jewish teens nationwide to receive the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award from the Helen Diller Family Foundation.

The nonprofit, launched two years ago and titled Game Changers New York, has distributed more than 5,500 pieces of sports equipment to 15 partner organizations in three countries. To acquire the equipment, Blau placed collection bins in local schools and synagogues. Volunteers helped organize the items in the nonprofit’s warehouse.

“I’ve always been a very athletic kid, and I wanted to give other children the same opportunities I had,” Blau said. Of the award, she said: “It’s an incredible honor to have.” 

Her other achievements include being a member of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Philanthropic Advisory Council for Teens and involvement in the Jewish Teen Funders Network’s Youth Ambassador Council. She also has received the UJA-Federation’s Light of the Future Award and a gold medal for receiving the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

Blau is president of the Schechter School’s Girls Learn International chapter, editor of the school’s newspaper and secretary of the Student Athletic Association. 

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.