2024 Dr. Harold Keltz Distinguished Public Health Service Award Winner: United Community Center of Westchester, Inc. (UCCW)
For more than 20 years, UCCW has demonstrated compassion and dedication in addressing a wide range of public health needs. Most recently, in collaboration with the County Health Department, UCCW has taken significant steps to reduce smoking and vaping. With funding from the County’s Tobacco Free Initiative, the organization conducted peer-led workshops on cigarette and flavored tobacco prevention for teens and young adults through the Know Better, Live Better program; delivered the Tar Wars prevention program to fourth and fifth graders; and provided smoking cessation support and strategies to adults through the American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking program.
Founded by executive director Jackeline Agudelo, UCCW is based at 360 North Avenue in New Rochelle, where it offers an array of essential community services. These include workplace health and safety training, as well as assisting families, children, and individuals with free health insurance enrollment. UCCW provides support groups for victims of domestic violence, trafficking, and sexual assault. The organization promotes wellness through yoga with workshops for older adults and chronic illness management groups for seniors. UCCW hosts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and partners with mental health providers and hospitals to assist individuals with substance use issues. UCCW refers clients to the County Health Department clinics for immunizations, sexual health services, and other needs.
Jackie Agudelo, Founder & Executive Director of the United Community Center of Westchester
Additionally, UCCW offers an emergency food pantry, case management services, and homeless outreach and prevention programs. Advocacy for labor disputes and assistance with immigration benefits are part of the support provided. Educational and work empowerment programs, including computer classes, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses, and Peruvian folkloric dance classes for children and youth, help foster growth and inclusion. The organization distributes food, fresh produce, as well as winter clothing to those in need and organizes annual holiday giveaways and cultural events.
Each year, UCCW serves more than 8,000 individuals and families and, since its inception, has touched the lives of more than one million people, collaborating with many organizations and government agencies to fulfill its mission.
The Dr. Harold Keltz Distinguished Public Health Service Award recognizes individuals or organizations exemplifying an extraordinary commitment to public health service in our community. Named in honor of Dr. Harold Keltz, a dedicated pulmonologist who devoted his career to the compassionate care of tuberculosis patients in Westchester, the award serves as a tribute to his legacy of service.
2025 J.R. Tesone Youth Public Health Service Award to Samantha Pfeffer
Samantha Pfeffer is an Edgemont High School senior who has become a passionate advocate for drowning prevention.
In 2022, Samantha took over the management of the Water Guardian Foundation, which her family founded in 2019 to advocate for water safety, four years after her two-year-old sister, Saige, drowned.
Samantha has partnered with pediatricians, nursery schools and the County Departments of Health and Parks to distribute Water Guardian tags. When worn around the neck on a lanyard, the tag serves as a visual reminder that the wearer is responsible for watching children in and around a pool, beach or lake and should not be distracted. The Water Guardian Foundation has raised more than $300,000 and distributed more than 5,000 Water Guardian tags to families with young children. Samantha also arranged to sponsor a class of 10 students from Greenburgh to become lifeguard-certified to help meet a lifeguard shortage. Samantha delivered Water Guardian tags to all Greenburgh families with pools. She provided scholarships to families who wanted their children to learn water survival skills by partnering with Infant Swimming Resource, a program that teaches children as young as six months old to learn to roll on their backs to float, rest and breathe in the water.
Samantha was invited to join the New York State Temporary Commission to Prevent Childhood Drowning, which was founded in December 2021 by Gov. Kathy Hochul to address the rise in childhood drownings.
Samantha serves with the Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corps. During the summer, she has taught English in Costa Rica, built and painted structures in Tanzania and worked as a wilderness first aid and epinephrine auto-injector at a wilderness camp in North Carolina. She plans to matriculate this fall at Lehigh University’s School of Public Health.
This award honors the memory of J.R. Tesone, a Westchester County Board of Health member who died in 2014. J.R. Tesone devoted his life to making summers safe and fun for hundreds of children. He found his calling as a camp counselor and later became the dedicated owner and director of Breezemont Day Camp in Armonk.
2025 Special Recognition Award: Cancer Support Team
For nearly 50 years, the Cancer Support Team has provided an array of services and support to cancer patients and their families in Westchester, especially those from underserved communities.
The Cancer Support Team helps patients and their families by addressing the emotional, physical, psychological and financial toll that a cancer diagnosis can have on an individual and their family.
With a professional staff that includes registered nurses, an oncology social worker, two case managers and more than 75 volunteers, the Cancer Support Team is dedicated to improving the quality of life and reducing stress for cancer patients and their families.
CST provides professional nursing education and support, counseling, case management, financial grants and other services to oncology patients, all at no cost. CST nurse counselors ensure that patients, family members and caregivers understand the emotional and physical impact of cancer. They serve as advocates, counsel patients on how to remain as healthy as possible through appropriate nutrition, even when their appetite wanes. They help patients manage pain and side effects, suggest ways to control symptoms, offer case managers to help patients apply for government benefits and connect patients to additional resources. CST also provides rides for patients who need them to radiation and chemotherapy appointments.
The Cancer Support Team can be reached at 914-777-2777. All help is provided free of charge.
Front Row: Tania Weiss, Executive Director, Elish McGrath, Director of Patient Services
Second Row: seated on the chair on the left: Lillian Shinsato, LCSW, Caridad Aponte, RN, Frances Glynn, RN
Third Row: Zoila Condor, MSW, Mercedes Estabridis, Community Outreach Coordinator, Patty Vaughn, RN, Cathy Collins, RN, Joan Carter, Development Director, Marisol Medina, Case Manager
Fourth Row: Marianne Allyn, RN, Monica Mullan, Manager HR & Finance, Heidi Almonte, Administrative Assistant, Paulina Portero, Manager of Strategic Initiatives, Andrea Piatti, RN
2025 Commissioner’s Award: Parul Shukla, MD
Dr. Parul Shukla is the 2025 recipient of the Westchester County Health Commissioner’s Award.
Dr. Shukla is being recognized for his leadership in raising public awareness about colorectal cancer prevention. He has partnered with the Westchester County Department of Health to inform Westchester residents about colorectal cancer trends and to collaborate with hospitals and health systems to increase colorectal cancer screening throughout Westchester.
Shukla serves as Northwell Health’s Regional Chief of Colon and Rectal surgery for Westchester and as Professor of Surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
Dr. Shukla specializes in the treatment of colon and rectal cancers including advanced polyps unsuitable for colonoscopic removal, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, and complex pelvic issues. Dr. Shukla is skilled in all established minimally invasive surgical modalities, including laparoscopic, endoscopic and robotic techniques.
In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Shukla is a renowned researcher and educator. He is widely published with over 120 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and 17 book chapters. He has served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Colorectal Diseases and as a member of the editorial board for the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO). Dr. Shukla is the editor of a textbook on surgery of the colon and rectum.
Dr. Shukla received his academic and postdoctoral medical training in Mumbai, India, in the UK, and Adelaide, South Australia.