MWI Gives Grants to Hofstra Medical School, COPE and Hospice, installs officers

MWI Donates $50,000 to Hofstra, Two Local Charities

Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, The COPE Foundation (Connecting Our Paths Eternally), located in Melville, and Hospice Care Network, based in Woodbury, are the recipients of this year’s philanthropic grants from Meadowbrook Women’s Initiative (MWI).

Since its inception in 2009, MWI has donated more than $275,000 to Long Island-based charities and to Hofstra’s Medical School. In accepting this year’s grant, Alan Kelly, Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs, recounted: “Nine years ago, we got a call from this group saying they wanted to come in and talk about what they could do with Hofstra. . .So we get into this conversation: ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Raise money for you.’ Bingo! Since then, you guys have provided over $100,000 to the school. What that does is help our students over the summer of their first year to do research – it’s the only time they have to themselves, so they pick an area of interest they may go into in the future. They have done research in places as far away as India, the Dominican Republic, New York, all over the country, on topics such as the prevention of malaria techniques, children’s health in New Dehli, pediatric dehydration in the Dominican Republic. They couldn’t do this without the financial support MWI provides, and we are really, really grateful for what you do for us and for the community.”

Two other charities received one-time grants; they were nominated by members and were vetted and visited by MWI’s philanthropy committee. COPE is a healing organization dedicated to helping families living with the loss of a child by providing help and support. It currently serves more than 1,000 families, at no cost. “Parents and children receive the tools to grieve and the tools to go on living,” explained President and Founder Lillian Julien, in accepting the grant. The Hospice Care Network embraces the vision of bringing dignity to the end of life care, and has been serving patients and families on Long Island since 1988. MWI’s grant will go to the Hospice Inn, in Melville, which cares for 18 patients. “I think if you were to visit the Hospice Inn, you’d feel that you were at a hotel,” praised Christine Cort, Director of Special Events. “We always want to give the best to our patients, and this grant will help us to do that.”

At the presentation ceremony held in late June in Plainview, Nassau County Legislator Judy Jacobs (16th LD) also installed Syosset resident Susan Gould for a second term as MWI’s president. “I am enraptured by Meadowbrook Women’s Initiative,” Jacobs praised, “since I came to your first meeting and saw the work that you do. There is a certain kind of person who gets gratification giving back, and my hat goes off to all of you. That’s why I’ve always stayed involved and focused, even as a Legislator, helping others to help themselves and to find paths for themselves. . .”.

MWI has more than 500 members, mostly retired women, who live in virtually every community in Nassau County, as well as Suffolk and Queens. The organization is dedicated to promoting lifetime learning, serving the community, raising funds for worthwhile local causes, and making a difference in the lives of members and the lives of others. Among its regular activities are 30 study groups, museum trips, a book and author luncheon, theater party, card party, knitting afghans for AIDS patients and preemie hats and making “ouch babies” for children in hospitals, volunteering at the A Holly Patterson extended care facility in Uniondale, gift wrapping at holiday time with Kiwanis, and working with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Further information about MWI can be found on its website: www.meadowbrookwomen.org.