To the editor:

In the early panic of the pandemic, when most of us worried about our health and our families, Kara McLoughlin worried about other people too. She saw fundraiser after fundraiser cancelled, for nonprofits that provided essential goods and services to members of our community. How would the groups finance their efforts, which were more urgently needed than ever, if they couldn’t raise money?

So, while we were hunting for hand sanitizer, Kara co-created Couchfest, three hours of online musical performance that raised over $70,000 for deserving organizations. Kara saw the need, devised a solution, recruited others, did the work and succeeded.

That sort of leadership is typical of Kara, and just one of the many reasons we are proud to endorse her for Pelham’s Town Council.

Kara is a dream candidate. She has an MBA from Columbia and a professional background in finance, marketing and philanthropy. She’s the executive director of a foundation supporting girls’ and women’s programs. Her exhaustive history of civic participation spans categories: Kara chaired various committees on the Pelham Education Foundation, serving the maximum time allowed, and helped raise more than $1 million for educational needs not covered by the school budget. She held a variety of leadership positions in the Junior League for 15 years, helping create the Wolfs Lane and Woodland Playground parks. She served on the citizen’s nominating committee for the board of education. She learned about the recreation department by managing youth sports teams (in multiple sports) for over a decade. She launched StreetFest to support the Pelham Chamber of Commerce and local businesses. As a Pelham Together volunteer, she co-coordinated WinterFest and SummerFest.

She did all of this, and more, while working and raising a family.

But it’s in her collaborative approach where Kara shines brightest. She loves Pelham and embraces the fact that we’re all neighbors who want the best for our town. As a breast cancer survivor, Kara credits the disease with reminding her to seize each day and use her time on what matters. What matters to her is bringing neighbors together on the many issues we agree on. She focuses on positive ideas for improvements (go to KaraForPelham.com for more info). It’s a welcome change from the divisiveness that politics often encourages.

Kara has knocked on hundreds of doors in Pelham, greeting friends and introducing herself to residents she doesn’t know. Her favorite part of campaigning so far is the number of people who had the same response to her visit: “Thank you for listening.”

We represent a wide range of political views, but we agree on this: Kara will bring that spirit of listening and collaboration to government. We’ll be lucky to have her represent us, and we ask you to join us in electing her to our town council on Nov. 2.

Marilyn Zielinski

60 First St., with:

Elizabeth Alderman

Tami Altschiller

Jonathan Altschiller

Nandini Anandu

Allison Anderson

Erin Apmann

Michael Apmann

Cathie Arquilla

Warren Banholzer

Laura Barge-O’Sullivan

Bill Bassell

Karen Beatty

Jonathan Bernstein

Richard Biaggi

Toni Biaggi

George Bischof

Jeffrey Bonanno

Michael Bowen

Marie Bowes

Greg Breskin

Theresa Breskin

Tom Bricker

Kristen Bowes Burke

Sid Burke

Nancy Calero

Rick Calero

John Calvelli

Maria Calvelli

Josie Carbone

Linda Carlozzi

Alicia Carmona

Kate Carpenter

Michael Carpenter

Kate Carson

Chris Caruso

Laura Caruso

Michael J Casey

Elaine Chang

Jeffay Chang

Kevin Christiana

Michael Clain

Seth Cohn

RoseAnn Colkin

Tina Constable

Amy Conway

Bryan Cover

Mary Crotty

Rachel Cullen

Maura Curtin

Cathy Czukas

Chris D’Angelo

Grace DaProcida

Joseph T. DaProcida

Christina Day

Jacqueline DeAngelis

Melissa Deighton

Miles Dennison

Veronica Dennison

Eva Dietz

Lynne Dintrone

Aileen Dose

Tim Dose

Ed Doty

Wade Dougherty

Wendy Dougherty

Brian Eccleston

Carla Romita Eccleston

Hanan Eldahry

Heather Eliezer

Scott Ely

Susan Ely

Elizabeth Emmons

Melissa Eustace

Michael Bentley Eustace

Joanna Fanuele

Michael Fanuele

Anne Lyons Fedele

Xaira Ferrara

Rosie Finizio

Mary Beth Fisher

Annie Griffith Freeman

George Freeman

John Fronce

Allison Frost

Julia Fuller

Chris Gerson

Emily Gest

Paige Gilman

James Gilmartin

Stephanie Gilmartin

Daphne Ginn

Sabrina Glaser

Cheryl Goldstein

Amy Goodman

Mike Gracie

Eileen Gregware

Louise H Hayes

Henry V Hayes

Blair Hecht

Kathryn Herrington

Michael Herrington

Peter Hertz

Lisa Hill-Ries

Peter Hoffmann

Krystal Howell

Marilyn Hoyt

Adam Ilkowitz

Jeniece Ilkowitz

Jessica Jaffee

Kim Jaimes

Marianne Jawanda

Jason Jeffries

Sarah Jeffries

Melissa Kagan

Laura Kalehoff

Aimee Kaplan

Matthew Kaplan

Alexa Kazim

Louise Kelly

Lisa Kiernan

Megan Kim

Phil Kim

Darius Kingsley

Shayna Klopott

Bill Knickerbocker

Patricia Knickerbocker

Lance Koonce

Lisa Koonce

Katy Krassner

Erika Krauss

Melissa Labonte

Katherine Landy

Robert Landy

Adam Levenson

Brian Levine

Romina Levy

Amy Lienert

Dan Livingstone

Eileen Madden

Rosemary Maggiore

Mercedes Maldanado

Ash Mallach

Larry Mallach

Sara Mallach

Kathi Mangan

Evangelina Martin

Joseph Marty

Toby Marxuach-Gusciora

Liz Massie

Caitlin Mattina

Matthew McCormick

John P McCormick

Kim McGreal

Courtney McGrory

Ramsey McGrory

Paula McKeever

Suzanne Michailoff

Michael Middleton

Eileen Miller

Ethan Miller

Tifenn Missey-Navarro

Theresa Mohan

Mariette Morrissey

Tom Morrissey

David Motta

Kristy Mount

Chance Mullen

Francile Mullen

Louise Muller

Una Murray

Dino Mytides

Marcello Nacht

Sanjay Naik

Cristyne Nicholas

Nick Nicholas

Peggy Nicholson

Meredith Ohmes

Paul Osmolskis

Don Otondi

Michele Pagnotta

Christine Palmieri

Maria Pannullo

Marisa Panzani

Joanie Paradis

Mike Paradis

Jamie Parilla

John Pedorella

John Peebles

Stacy Peebles

Caleb Persanis

Claire Persanis

Matthew Persanis

Janice Powers

Kate Pringle

Boyer Proffitt

Eileen Proffitt

Debra Puchalla

Natalie Pursel

Karen Pursel

Susan Quinton

Megan Reed

Anna Riehl

Colleen Ring

Amy Rios

Robert Rios

Jennifer Rohr

Mauro Romita

Michele Roque

Tony Rosen

Becky Ross

Tom Ross

Laurie Roth

Kathleen Rothschild

David Rubenstein

Susan Saas

Jennifer Safsel

Steve Salee

Megan Segaric

Tom Segaric

Judy Shampanier

Anna Shampanier-Bowen

Erika Sisk

Michael Sisk

Elasah Schaff-Smith

Jack Smith

Terri Smith

Jessica Solomon

Russell Solomon

Ariel Spira-Cohen

Ron Sucena

Silmara Sucena

Allison Tam

Catharine Taylor

Dana Thayer

Sydney Thayer

Adam Torres

Lily Triantafillou

Emily Venugopal

Ed Wakeham

Pat Wakeham

Tara Weishaupl

Dan Wharton

Tom White

Margot Wies

Peter Wies

Suzanne Wies

Deborah Winstead

Erica Winter

Paula Wood

Jess Young

Megan Yuen

Janna Zagari

Moneeka Zaman

Chares Zicari

Andrea Ziegelman