DAN'S PAPERS, April 24, 2009 Page 39 www.danshamptons.com
Have a Heart: Good Guys Finish First By Tiffany Razzano This year’s Potatohampton 5K Race, sponsored by Dan’s Papers, will benefit the Southampton-based Have a Heart Community Trust, which works to raise money for many local charities that assist the less fortunate in our area. Rather than funneling the money it raises through benefits and donations into just one worthy organization, Have a Heart works with a number of local non-profits, from food pantries to youth oriented groups to organizations that advocate healthcare. Have a Heart looks to see where the need is for these groups on a daily basis, said Rose Dios, founder and trustee. “Our board goes out to [the groups] and asks, ‘What can we do for you?’ … We call up our partner organizations and reach out to them to see what they need. We love to not have money in our account.” Have a Heart works with Peconic Community Council, The East Hampton Community Council, Southampton Day Care Center, The Center for Prenatal Care at Greenport and Herstory at the Riverhead Correctional Facility, among others. Typically, the money goes towards small gestures, such as helping people who are behind on rent and utility bills and keeping them from being evicted, or collecting school supplies for local children in need. “They’re little things, but they add up,” Dios said. Dios founded Have a Heart in 1994 by acci-
dent. Attempting to set up a Valentine’s Day dinner party at the Bridgehampton Community House, she was told the venue was only rented out for charity dinners. So she turned her party into a fundraiser for local food pantries and Have a Heart grew exponentially from there, especially when it earned its not-for-profit status in 1996. Now, Dios has handed over the reins to a younger generation of local residents and professionals interested in helping those in need. “It was always our goal to eventually hand it over to people in their 20s and 30s,” she said. Bill Wright, of Hampton Mortgage, has taken over the role of president this year. He hopes to help the organization grow while attracting younger and different demographics of people interested in assisting the needy by offering events that are more varied and affordable. “We’re going to do things that are not just your typical $100 cocktail ticket,” he said. For instance, last summer the group held its first ever beach volleyball tournament, which raised $14,000 for the Southampton Day Care Center and local food pantries. But just as importantly, through the event “we were able to get people of all ages involved in Have a Heart, people who wouldn’t normally partake in such an event.” In these economic times, Have a Heart
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needs all the financial help it can get to continue its mission of helping locals in need. This is why the group is especially excited about benefiting from Potatohampton. “We’re very excited about it,” Wright said. “It’s another group of people, a new target market, we’re going to be able to reach.” Dan’s Papers Potatohampton, the oldest running event on Long Island, will take place on the back roads of Bridgehampton on May 31. The race begins at 9 a.m. on Ocean Road. To download an entry form, go to danshamptons.com, or call 631537-0500. For more information about the Have a Heart Community Trust or to donate money to the organization, go to haveaheartcommunitytrust.org.
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lances and other things and if we wanted to do a parade of runners in Bridgehampton on Memorial Day weekend. Forget it. See you May 31. The gun sounds at 9 a.m. I will be leading the parade in the same car I drove to lead that first parade. It was at that time 20-years-old. It is now 50-years-old. It is a bright red 1959 Triumph TR-3 sports car and a grand old thing it is indeed. It still runs fine. And so do I.
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