2021 HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our readers
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Freeport
HERALD 2020
YEAR IN REVIEW
Leader
DECEMBER 31, 2020 - JANuARY 6, 2021
What’s
Vol. 86 No. 1
Feeding the first responders
INSIDE
By Ronny Reyes rreyes@liherald.com
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Ronny Reyes/Herald xx/Herald
Roberta Coward earned Cedarmore’s xx Woman of Distinction Award.Page 0
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Christina Daly/Herald xx/Herald
Freeport High School celebrated the xx indomitable class of 2020. Page 0
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Ronny Reyes/Herald xx/Herald
Freeport’s American Legion honored xx the memory of a fallen Marine. Page 0
lthough this year has been defined by the grim realities of the coronavirus pandemic, it also represents a year of incredible altruism as neighbors stepped up to help one another throughout 2020. Among them was Kevin Calhoun, 62, one of the co-owners of the Halfway Down restaurant on Freeport’s Nautical Mile. As the first months of the pandemic overwhelmed first responders on Long Island, Calhoun and his team at the Halfway Down made it their mission to provide free lunches to more than half a dozen Long Island hospitals. From March to August, the restaurant distributed roughly 9,500 lunches to the doctors, nurses and hospital staff working tirelessly to combat the coronavirus. For spearheading Halfway Down’s Meals for Heroes initiative, the Herald Leader proudly names Calhoun its 2020 Person of the Year. The effort began early in the pandemic, when the state began shutting down and hospitalization rates rose in late March. As hospitals began asking for personal protective equipment donations, Calhoun decided to drop off boxes of gloves to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside. Along with the gloves, he also brought a few cups of coffee for the hospital staff. “I was surprised by just how happy they were about the coffee,” Calhoun said. “They told me how they barely had anything to drink or eat all day, and I saw a need that had to be met.” Together with his partners, Richard Duffy and Hugh Carroll, Halfway Down kicked off Meals for Heroes, preparing lunches and making regular deliveries to local hospitals. The meals consisted of sandwiches,
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NEWS
Kevin CalhoUn xx he meals program was a means for Kevin . . . to pay it forward.’
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hUGh CaRRoll Co-owner, Halfway Down chips, protein bars and bottles of water. Calhoun said that while his partners and their employees initially put the meals
Infections as of Dec. 30
For BrEAKING go to liherald.com
HERALD PERSON oF tHE YEAR
3,059
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Infections as of Dec. 23 2,853
together for the staff at MSSN and Nassau University Medical Center, in East Meadow, the two hospitals that directly serve Freeport, the program quickly grew in popularity. As word spread about Meals for Heroes, Halfway Down received calls from nurses from across Long Island about feeding the staffs at their hospitals. The program delivered to Mercy Medical Center, in Rockville Centre; NYU Winthrop, in Mineola; LIJ Medical Center, in Valley Stream; St. Joseph Hospital, in Bethpage; and Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, in West Islip. At the height of the pandemic, Halfway Down made at least two deliveries a day to these hospitals. “It’s amazing to see Kevin and the members at Halfway Down go above and beyond to donate to our first responders,” said Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy, who joined them on their 3,000th meal delivery to the NUMC on April 24.“It just goes to show that there are truly great people in Freeport.” As demand for Meals for Heroes increased, so too did the number of people helping Halfway Down. Local businesses began donating food to the restaurant, and Calhoun said that even the restaurant’s regulars began pitching in once they heard about the project. Larry Rehwinkle, one of the regulars, came daily from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to help assemble meals and deliver them to the hospitals. Others stopped by to make brownies and other treats. Calhoun said that with the shutdown causing massive layoffs, volunteering Continued on page 2 Courtesy Kevin Calhoun
Kevin Calhoun started Halfway Down’s “Meals for Heroes” initiative to feed first responders during the pandemic.