The Garden City News Friday, Friday, November 4, 2016
56
THIS WEEK AT ROTARY
Rotary to Kick off Holiday Season
Members of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club cordially invite members of the Garden City and Mineola business and residential communities to its annual Holiday Fellowship Luncheon on Monday, December 12, Noon, at the Garden City Hotel. Please join us for the festivities of the season to include good cheer, fellowship and great networking! The Garden City High School Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Amanda Conte, will entertain with merry tunes of the season. With the high school choruses alternating at the event each year, the spotlight for 2016 belongs to the Garden City chorus. Also featured will be a 50/50 drawing for a cash prize with proceeds to benefit RotaCare which addresses the primary healthcare needs of the uninsured of Long Island. Established in 1992 by the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club, RotaCare is an all-volunteer operation. The doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and clerical staff along with 100-plus volunteers are committed to giving quality health care to those in need. Come and be merry! Bring a friend or business associate(s). Advance reserva-
tions are required and may be made at this time by calling Susan MacDonald, at 643-5286.
Champion for Families Event to Support RotaCare
On Thursday, November 17, RotaCare will recognize 13 of Long Island’s top advocates for healthy families. Event honorees work tirelessly toward bettering the lives of those in need on Long Island and promote healthy families as well. The Mineola-Garden City Club is proud to recognize Emily Franchina, Esq. and Helmut Shuler among the prestigious honorees. Emily is the Immediate Past Club President and chair of the 2016 Holiday Fellowship Luncheon. Helmut is Sergeant-at-Arms Co-Chair and Co-Chair of the Club Speakers Bureau as well. The Champion for Families event will take place at the Mercer School of Theology here in Garden City on November 17. The reception begins at 6:30 p.m. Attendees will enjoy cocktails and light refreshments before the awards ceremony. For event reservations, visit www.2016championsforfamilies.eventbrite.com, or call Tracey Gittere at 222-0550.
The Paul Eckna Foundation to participate in Americana Manhasset’s Champions for Charity. From Thursday, December 1 through Sunday, December 4, over 70 participating Americana Manhasset and Wheatley Plaza stores will donate 25% of designated full-price pre-tax purchases to the participating organization(s) of the customer’s choice. Purchases are not automatically eligible; you must register for a complimentary Champion Number. Simply designate Paul Eckna Foundation as your charity of choice and present your Champion Number when making purchases during the event. 25% will be automatically calculated and submitted to Paul Eckna Foundation.
For more information visit championsforcharity.org or call 800.818.6767.
The Paul R. Eckna Foundation 68 Huntington Rd Garden City, NY 11530 Dear Fellow Foundation Supporters,
On behalf of the Paul R. Eckna Memorial Foundation, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support to not only our foundation, but to our group’s objectives, as well. Without your unwavering commitment and incredible generosity, we would not be able to attain our many accomplishments, and each of you should feel personally responsible for our group’s achievements; though we may operate as an organization, we would be unable to make an impact in the community without each of our individual supporters. For this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I would like to express my deepest gratitude. Many of you know, on October 6th, we hosted our 14th Annual Paul R. Eckna Memorial Foundation Golf & Dinner Dance, affectionately referred to by our supporters as, “The Eckna,” and it was an enormous success, with our largest turnout to date. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to all of our golfers, dinner attendees, tee sponsors, as well as both our personal and corporate donors who made this year’s outing such a tremendous and resounding success.
As I am sure you are aware, Paul Eckna, my younger brother, was killed during the tragic events of 9/11 while working with Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of these catastrophic and crippling attacks, I partnered with some of my brother’s closest childhood friends to create this foundation to honor Paul’s memory; through Paul’s passing, we created an organization which would give back to the community he loved, and provided so much to him throughout his life. Though Paul is no longer with us in person, his passion, spirit, and boundless kindness continues on with every donation we place, life we touch, and goal we fulfill. We held our very first fundraising event in October of 2002 at the Creek Club in Locust Valley, and we continued this annual gathering ever since. Our foundation’s charitable legacy began with the donation of a scoreboard to a local youth football program 2002, and developed throughout the years to include: • Awarding nearly $125,000 in college scholarships to winners of the annual Paul R. Eckna Memorial Scholarship; • Donating new computers, tables, and chairs to the Garden City Library for use in its children’s computer room; • Supporting a capital improvements program at a school for children with special needs; • Donating electronic equipment to the Garden City primary and elementary schools for use in their reading programs; • Purchasing playground equipment for a local nursery school; and • A multitude of other meaningful donations in Paul’s name to charities supporting a wide array of worthy causes.
Once again, thank you for your ardent commitment and support; I am humbled to think of how many people loved and cared for my brother throughout his life, and how each of you contribute to our endeavor to preserve Paul’s legacy through our philanthropic initiatives in the community he cherished. We intend to celebrate the foundation’s 15th anniversary with our largest event to date in October of 2017 at the Cherry Valley Country Club.
I would like to wish you and your family a happy & healthy holiday season!
Very Truly Yours, The Paul R. Eckna Memorial Foundation