Levittown Resident Honored at Make a Difference Awards

Tuesday evening, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and the Town Board celebrated 13 extraordinary people for their contributions to the communities they live in.

For the past 14 years, the Make a Difference Awards have honored those who selflessly contribute to the greater good.

Supervisor Murray gave the opening speech at the ceremony, held at Hempstead Town Hall.

"This is a very special evening for our town," she said. "We're joining together as a community to recognize individuals who have positively and profoundly made a difference in our lives."

"Volunteerism is alive and well in our town, I'm happy to say," Murray added.

The recipients of the award come from all walks of life, but all hold something in common: the belief that we can better ourselves and, in doing so, help others.

Gary Crozier of Levittown has served his community in many ways, initially as a Cub Scout Master and PTA member, then as a Kiwanis president, and later as an advocate for the disabled, refurbishing recovered wheelchairs for those in need. He also collects food from stadium events for needy families.

"I'm very humbled by getting this award," he said. "I don't do what I do for the recognition that I get...the reward I get is to help people out."

Other recipients of Make a Difference awards included Dr. James Benenati of Seaford, Pat Cassetta of Uniondale, Norma Debartolo of Elmont, Gaetano Ferrara of Valley Stream, Dr. Steven Mendelsohn of Rockville Centre, Marianne Driscoll and Mohammed Saleh of Merrick, Kelly Light of East Rockaway, Sue Marcote of Point Lookout, Hester Roberts of Hempstead, Timothy "Monster" Goettelmann of Garden City and Vincent Toma of Franklin Square.

Posthumous awards were presented to Paige and Jaime Malone and Mike Mulhall of Floral Park.

Once the ceremony had concluded, Supervisor Murray stood in awe of this year's award recipients.

"Every year I'm amazed at the depth and breadth of goodness that's around us here in the Town of Hempstead," she said. "It's amazing...every person is different, and yet, they have that common theme of being heroes amongst us. I'm inspired every year by them, they do phenomenal things."