Long Island Non-profit Briefs: November 29, 2002

Long Island Business News, Nov 29, 2002 by Lisa Josefak

Genovese Drug Stores presented the Long Island Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with a $47,000 donation.

Genovese employees and administrators raised the funds during JDRF's 2002 Walk for a Cure, which recently took place at Eisenhower State Park in Nassau and Belmont State Park in Suffolk.

Feeding Long Islands' hungry

Island Harvest, a food rescue organization, is asking Long Islanders to help make sure people in Nassau and Suffolk counties who face the holidays with empty plates receive a holiday meal.

Donations of canned foods, turkeys and coupons are needed.

Harvest delivers donated food to more than 400 nonprofit agencies on Long Island. It also collects and distributes canned and packaged goods from food drives held throughout the year.

For more information, call (516) 294-8528 for

Chanukah Candle Lighting services

Sid Jacobson JCC of East Hills is hosting Chanukah Candle Lighting services Nov. 29 through Dec. 7 with the lighting of an 18-foot Chanukah menorah in front of the building.

The event also includes music, special readings and goodies for everyone.

For more information, call (516) 484-1545, Ext. 166.

Credentialing made easier

The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare launched its Universal Credentialing Data Source service in New York.

CAQH, a nonprofit organization, developed this service to help physicians more easily and cost-effectively provide required credentialing information to healthcare organizations.

Many physicians have contracts with 10 or more healthcare organizations, each of which has a separate credentialing process.

CAQH's program allows physicians to submit their credentials only once into a uniform system, and provide periodic updates, to satisfy the credentialing needs of all participating healthcare organizations.

There is no cost to physicians to use the service and information can be submitted by Web or fax. On a quarterly basis, physicians are e-mailed to confirm that the data on file remains current.

Data is maintained by CAQH in a secure data center and is only made available to healthcare organizations that have been authorized by each physician.

First annual tree lighting

In preparation for a tree lighting ceremony at St. Charles Hospital & Rehabilitation Center in Port Jefferson on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m., a fresh blue spruce was recently planted on the hospital grounds.

R & R Brett Landscaping, of East Islip, donated the tree.

The evening will also include music, hot chocolate, candy canes and a visit from Santa Claus. The newly formed St. Charles choir directed by Grace Sparacino, manager of cardio-pulmonary services at St. Charles, will also perform.

For more information, call (631) 474-6060.

AEDs donated to local schools

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center donated automated external defibrillators to 22 Suffolk County school districts.

Due to recently passed legislation, each district with an athletic program must acquire the lifesaving devices, which cost about $2,500 each.

Personnel from each school district were also invited to attend a four-hour course on AED instruction. The educational program was provided free of charge by Good Samaritan's certified American Heart Association instructors.

Foundation raises $280,000

The National Foundation for Human Potential hosted Family Residences & Essential Enterprises' 25th anniversary Celebration of Life Gala at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, which raised more than $280,000.

All proceeds will benefit Family Residences & Essential Enterprises, The Rehabilitation Institute and other organizations that support educational, residential and support services for residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties.

This year's honoree was Charles A. Gargano, chairman of Empire State Development.

For more information, call (631) 273-4192.

Champions for Charity benefit

The Mentoring Partnership of Long Island was chosen as a recipient, for the second consecutive year, of the Americana Manhasset Champions for Charity Holiday Shopping and Dining Benefit.

All participants "shopping" for the Mentoring Partnership are eligible for a special brunch for four at Millie's Restaurant, where the kick-off breakfast will take place on Dec. 4. The event will run through Dec. 8.

Other recipients for this year's benefit include Island Harvest in Mineola and St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn.

For more information or to register for your charity of choice, visit www.championsforcharity.org.

Clubhouse receives $1,000 donation

Long Island Commercial Bank made a $1,000 donation to Clubhouse of Suffolk's Mental Illness Awareness Day recently held at the Melville Marriot in Melville.

The full day conference featured keynote speaker Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, a renowned author and psychiatric clinician; and guest speaker Dr. Lauren Slater, an award-winning author and psychotherapist.

The event also included workshops and a behavioral health trade show.

For more information, call (631) 471-7242.

Dinner benefits Christa House

The fifth annual dinner benefiting Christa House-The Jerry Hartman Residence will be held Dec. 3 at Rhona Silver's Huntington Town House in Huntington.