Imagine Awards honors Long Island nonprofits

A couple dozen groups and community leaders are set to be honored later this month as finalists for the 11th annual Long Island Imagine Awards.

Created by Ken Cerini, managing partner of Cerini & Associates, the Imagine Awards honor nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes, as well as the people behind them.

Finalists for the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility award are LGBT Network, Harmony Health Care Long Island, Spectrum Design Foundation, and The Viscardi Center.

Up for the Cerini & Associates Social Impact Award are ECLI Vibes, FCA-Family & Childrenb’s Associates, Girls Scouts of Suffolk County, and the North Shore Child & Family Guidance Association.

Finalists for the Certilman Balin Leadership Excellence Award are Eileen Minogue, executive director of Book Fairies; Neela Mukherjee Lockel, president and chief executive of EAC Network; Jeffrey Reynolds, president and chief executive of FCA; and Joe Salamone, founder and executive director of the Long Island Coalition Against Bullying.

For the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation Arts & Culture Award, it’s Gold Coast Arts, Landmark on Main Street, The Long Island Children’s Museum, and the Spirit of Huntington Art Center.

Up for the Signature Bank Innovation Award are ACLD-Adults & Children with Learning and Develop mental Disabilities, Developmental Disabilities Institute, Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, and United Way of Long Island.

And for the Vanguard Insurance Agency Rising Star Award, finalists are Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck, Hair We Share, Rebuilding Together Long Island, and Winters Center for

The awards are handed out beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. More than 190 nonprofit applications were submitted to win a $5,000 grant in each of the six catego-

“With the addition of SterlingRisk as a platinum sponsor providing $1,000 to each of the 24 finalists, the addition of the new DEIA award, and the anticipation of more than 400 people coming together to celebrate the nonprofit sector, this has the makings of one of the best award programs to date,” Cerini said, in a release. “With all of the struggles the nonprofit sector is grappling with, it is awesome to have a night like this to really highlight all the amazing work our incredible finalists are doing.”

To learn more about the Long Island Imagine Awards, visit ImagineAwardsLI.com, or for sponsorship information, contact Hillary Needle at hillary@hillaryneedleevents.com, or at (516) 993-4056.