Lesley Stiles ScearceRachel Monroe Cohen was named Girls Preparatory School’s Distinguished Alumna during Alumnae Weekend festivities on April 8-9.
Cohen, class of 1996, is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta and Columbia University School of Law in New York. After serving on the legal team for the New York Yankees, she is now living in Jericho, N.Y., and in private practice.
She and her husband, Brian, founded the Reagan and Jax Cohen Memorial Fund in memory of their two young children who died in a 2014 accident. They have raised more than $250,000 in two years, money used to support organizations that improve children’s lives. Beneficiaries of their fund to date have included St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Make-A-Wish, Alex’s Lemonade Stand and Save the Children’s Early Steps to School Success.
Also during Alumna Weekend, the Margaret Rawlings Lupton Award for Excellence was presented to Rebecca Whelchel, class of 1976, and Lesley Stiles Scearce, class of 1996. The award recognizes outstanding community service through professional or volunteer activities.
Whelchel is executive director of Metropolitan Ministries Inc., also known as MetMin. Under her leadership, MetMin has grown in size and services from a project of local congregations to an independent, self-sustaining community hub for the poor. MetMin annually provides emergency financial support, supportive services and paths to stability for more than 6,000 households on the brink of homelessness or struggling to recover from it.