Benefit Rocks East Meadow's Savannah Club

The in East Meadow played host to a benefit event for the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County -- an evening of rock and roll music that drew upwards of 250 donors.

“It was a tremendously successful evening,” said Matt Skidell, one of the organizers of the evening.

While not the largest benefit of the year for the center, according to center board member David Rosen, who along with Skidell and others organized the event, the evening had an important effect -- it helped broaden the reach of an organization which has become a major “Voice of Tolerance” on Long Island.

“This was a social event, a fun Thursday night out,” said Rosen. “Because of that, we made many new friends.”

The evening included a live band, state-of-the-art DJ and catered meal and bar services in the posh setting of the Savannah Club. Guests began arriving around 7:30 p.m. and the energy built to a crescendo with an amalgamation of musical talents, including Paul Mahos and the New Life Crisis band, violinist Randi Fishenfeld, vocalist Nancy Atlas and more.

A lot of fun was had for $100 per person ($80 in advance), plus the opportunity to contribute to an organization whose role has grown from keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive to contemporary social issues, such as bullying, prejudice or other manifestations of intolerance.

“We draw the lessons learned from the Holocaust and other genocides since, to empower children with the tools to be upstanders, not bystanders,” said Rosen.

Thousands of children come to the center for age appropriate recounting of the Holocaust from individuals who survived the experience. Corporations, cadets at local academies and other groups requiring tolerance training also come through.

It all takes place in the Welwyn Preserve in Glen Cove -- formerly a Pratt mansion, but newly refurbished into a 2500 sq. ft state-of-the-art multi-media exhibition hall. Inside are artifacts and video stations featuring short films displaying archival footage and testimony from local survivors. All told, it provides a detailed chronicle of the Holocaust appropriate for 5th graders through adult.

The final gallery concludes with a focus on the relevancy of the Holocaust in our lives today by revisiting other genocides since 1945, and examining actions by contemporary upstanders.

To do all that, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center relies on private donations and fundraisers like the event at the Savannah Club.

“We have three major events a year. One is a formal black tie dinner at the Woodbury Jewish Center, 500 people or so come to that,” said Rosen. “We hold an annual golf outing. And we have another dinner next week -- a little less formal than the black tie dinner -- at Carlisle at the Palace on May 24.”

And another Rock & Roll evening? After this week’s success, that’s a prospect which Matt Skidell is all in favor of.

“We hope to do it again next year,” he said.

For more information on the center, visit www.holocaust-nassau.org