East Aurora Advertiser

Student’s Love of EMW Club Leads to Donation



Max Testa has a pretty good idea what makes the Boys and Girls Club of Elma Marilla Wales work so well. He’s been there for about a decade, going first as a student, then a volunteer and later as an employee. 

With his time at the club coming to an end as he prepares to graduate Iroquois Central, the 17-year-old senior recently took the time to draft an essay about the club for a scholarship. 

The Iroquois Foundation put out a call for essays from seniors and asked them to either write about their plans for college or about what type of changes they would make to the school district if they had the resources. 

Testa was one of 17 people to complete the assignment, but he turned his focus to the club, talking about the need for upgrades in the game room and in the learning center, where he works with younger classmates. He discussed how the club has been a positive impact on his life and he wanted to see improvements made that might help keep students interested in going to the club.

Diane Rohl, left, presents Max Testa with a $2,000 check that will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Elma, Marilla and Wales. She presented the club with the check after reading an essay by Testa about his time at the club. File Photo by Adam Zaremski, 2017

He didn’t receive the scholarship that went with winning the essay contest, but his words caught the eye of Diane Rohl. She’s on the Iroquois Foundation board and thought Testa made a good case for the club receiving enhanced resources. So she wrote a $2,000 check to the club and said they can use it to make some upgrades Testa proposed. 

“Max was the incentive. I contribute to EMW, it’s not that I never have, but I never thought about doing this until I read Max’s essay,” Rohl said. “I know $2,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to, but this will be a start for them.”

Executive Director Tracey Karp-Theal said she will work with Testa to see how the money is allocated. She said this was his vision and she wanted to honor his thoughts in accomplishing his goal. She said she was grateful for both helping to improve the club. Karp-Theal said she had similar sentiments as Testa while looking at what the club has for equipment.

“We have the same types of games in the game’s room since we opened this building in 2000. A lot of them are the original games,” she said.  

Rohl said Testa deserves all the credit for the donation and was able to meet with him last week to offer her thanks. 

“I was so impressed with Maxwell’s arguments, relating to his experience and his dedication and how it was so meaningful to him that I knew I had to do something,” Rohl said.

Testa first started going to the club in second grade and has continued ever since. He started going because his parents worked late, but it was a good fit. 

“Even when I had to go home, I wanted to stay,” he said. 

After eighth grade he volunteered at the club in ninth and 10th grades. It was last summer when he started working there, going in as the coordinator for the learning center. Karp-Theal said Testa was known for being in the gymnasium or the game room, but when she heard he was both good at math and enjoyed it she thought he would be perfect in the learning room.  

“We’ll miss him,” she said. “It really warms my heart to know the club has had that impact on him.”

Testa will help with the club’s summer camp this year, then he will be off to Stony Brook University. He is undecided at this time, but may look at computer science or applied statistics. But knowing he can leave a little bit more of a legacy for the club is a nice way as a send off. 

“It’s awesome,” Testa said about the donation from Rohl. “I’ve been here my whole life, to give a little more back at the very end is cool.”

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