Meet Peekskill's Newest Rotarians

Jean M. Moczarski

Jean Moczarski is a former New York State educator with a long and successful career in Westchester County’s Hendrick Hudson School District. Her educational focus has been in the areas of English and Writing. She has taught various grade levels in Hendrick Hudson, and has also participated in a yearlong Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program in the UK. In addition to her teaching duties, Jean spent time-sharing her expertise with and mentoring less experienced professionals throughout her career.

Jean was a co-president of the Parent Advisory Board at Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY, and worked on several development initiatives for the school. By leveraging her network of business, community, and educational contacts, Jean was able to provide substantial financial support for the school. She secured funding for a variety of educational programs, including a $50,000 grant for technology upgrades and a $250,000 grant for state-of-the-art improvements in the school’s science labs. Also at Kennedy, Jean was able to link the opportunity for students to combine their community service requirements with internships in public service within New York State government.

Within her home community of Peekskill, New York, Jean has served on the City Planning Commission, where she helped to build the city’s vision for the future as it embarked on multiple redevelopment projects. She has also served as President of the Peekskill Middle School Parent -Teacher Organization, where she worked with a group of her colleagues to galvanize community resources and support to pass a city bond creating a new middle school for the city of Peekskill. She has written a grant for building and streetscape improvements for the Business Improvement District (BID). Jean is also conducting research for her community advocacy work with other communities working on similar development projects, including gathering information form local municipalities, civic organizations, and urban planners.

Jean is currently focusing her efforts on working with both the schools and the community within the City of Peekskill. She is involved in several citywide event plans as well as public relations endeavors for the City. In 2009, she served on a citywide committee to help plan and create the “Quadricentennial” Peekskill Celebration. She wrote and created the City’s Quadricentennial brochure including a map, historical facts and events. Also, she has written and produced three highly successful, City of Peekskill Newsletters in late 2008 and 2009.

Jean holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Western Connecticut State University, and an M.A. in English from Columbia University. She has been a resident of Peekskill for more than 25 years and resides in the city with her husband Peter and daughter Jill.

Jeanne Blum

Jeanne Blum grew up in Orange and Sullivan counties in New York.  She graduated from Jeffersonville High School with honors, immediately left the area and never looked back!

Jeanne attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, where she became a Joan Harrison scholar and a Mazon graduate intern.  (Mazon is a national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to prevent and alleviate hunger worldwide.)

Active in the non-profit sector for more than 15 years, Jeanne developed grants for Mercy College, and, as a partner with A.K.A. Marketing and Communications based in Manhattan, planned outreach and fundraising strategies for a number of social service, human rights, environmental and faith-based organizations.

In her current incarnation, Jeanne is Executive Director of Caring for the Homeless of Peekskill, Inc., also known as CHOP, a not-for-profit agency that seeks to alleviate hunger and homelessness in our community.  She runs the Jan Peek House shelter for the homeless; the Sunny Donut breakfast program; and is developing Fred’s Pantry, a ‘choice’ food pantry. 

Jeanne has a long history with CHOP.  Her father, Lee Beach, was one of the original founding members of CHOP in 1988 and would bring home colorful stories of the residents and staff of the Jan Peek House.  Through the years, Jeanne maintained her connection with Jan Peek.  While at A.K.A., Jeanne created the name and logo for the Sunny Donut breakfast program as a pro bono project.  In 2003, Jeanne joined CHOP as a volunteer, quickly moving into the role of Director of Finance and Development, where she built a Development Committee on CHOP’s Board of Directors and promptly organized CHOP’s first-ever fundraising efforts commencing with an annual gala dinner. CHOP’s gala is now in its sixth year.

Jeanne became Executive Director in 2007 and continues to build the organization and its programs, with the goal of interfacing with the community and erasing the stigma of homelessness.

In addition to working with the homeless, Jeanne is an established Peekskill artist and a member of the Peekskill Arts Council.  Her media is collage, three-dimensional assemblages and artist’s books. 

Jeanne is the founder of “Young Women in Action,” a program designed to build the self-esteem of young girls by developing their leadership capabilities through philanthropic pursuits.  She is a member of the Association for Development Officers, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce.  She serves on the Recovery Housing Network of Westchester and the Caring and Sharing Committee of the Peekskill School District.