Port Washington, NY - July 20, 2016 - Wit & whim, Port Washington’s philanthropic gift shop won the national ICON Honor Award, the home and gift industry’s most celebrated and coveted mark of accomplishment. Watch Wit & whim’s award winning segment below.
The award ceremony was held at the legendary Fox Theater in Atlanta on July 14th with over fifteen hundred people in attendance. The ICON organization flew owner, Laurie Scheinman in for the event. “I was wowed the moment I entered the almost 100 year old art deco theater!” she gushed. “I wasn’t nervous at all because wit & whim was such a long shot in the race.”
The ICON judges made their trip to wit & whim for an in-person assessment of the store and owner, Laurie Scheinman on June 15th. The shop was nominated in the Community Influence, Development and Outreach category, one of five awards recognized by the organization. The two-hour interviewed covered numerous topics including Scheinman’s eclectic mix of unique and affordable goods, the origin of the store, along with its philanthropic mission.
She explained to the judges the idea for the shop began as a means of bringing hope and an element of fantasy into an incredibly jolting time in her life. “It was a creative collaboration with my father to pass a scary time as his life was ending due to lung cancer. Developing wit & whim kept our minds off the scary stuff.”
The shop’s sentimental warmth has resonated with generations of customers for four years now, transforming it from a small business to a community hub.
Workshops, kids crafts projects, themed shopping nights, kick-off parties and celebrations have influenced and engaged customers since day one. The little shop with the big heart represents a simple yet sentimental message. Gift and give back, donating 100% of its profits to a different charity each month. This month’s profit will go to the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless.
The judges were particularly interested in wit & whim's wide-spread community engagement. They took particular note of the window display, “A Time to Soar” which was created by an inner city second grade class. Laurie spent six weeks working with twenty-seven children in their classroom preparing larger than life paper mache birds of North America. The collaboration culminated with the children taking a field trip to the shop to install the birds which were perched and suspended in flight along two ten-foot branches suspended across the windows.
“When they announced the nominees I felt really proud just to be mentioned,” Scheinman explained. “When they announced we won, I nearly fell out of my chair! I could barely speak but luckily remembered to thank my husband for being the financial genius behind the operation and congratulated my fellow nominees.”
In her wildest dreams, Laurie admitted, she never could have expected wit & whim to take on the life it has today. When asked what lessons she’s learned since wit & whim’s inception, Laurie paused and with a confident smile replied, “To do your own thing. To follow your heart and to push the limits of where you think you can go.”
More information about the ICON Honor Award can be found at www.iconhonors.com.