“Summer Together” 2020 Supports Port Families!

Summer Together is a volunteer-run program that funds summer camp scholarships and public-pool memberships for Port Washington families in need of economic assistance. It is a program of Long Island Together (LIT), a group of local community activists working to improve access to educational and enrichment opportunities for children, among other social justice causes.

In Summer 2020, the program's third year, the Summer Together team enabled Port families to experience safe and enriching summer activities amid the challenges of the pandemic. The program provided more than 100 children with a total of more than 300 weeks of activities. Here is a snapshot:

1) Summer Together worked with four community advisors (Our Lady of Fatima Social Outreach, St. Peter of Alcantara Social Ministry, the Parent Resource Center and the Port Washington Public Library’s ESOL and Homegrown Readers programs) to identify and fund 53 boys and girls who attended multi-week outdoor sports camps run by Port Washington PAL and Port Youth Activities. The children enjoyed a cumulative total of 180 weeks of day camp.

2) As a result of Summer Together’s outreach to the Port Washington School District and offer of full funding, Manorhaven elementary school principal Dr. Bonni Cohen created a new math enrichment program, “Building Math Muscles for Middle School,” for rising 6th graders. The two-week virtual program in August served 47 students and was taught by two 5th and 6th grade district math teachers, two teaching assistants, and one bilingual educational assistant.

3) Summer Together funded two interns who participated in ReWild’s 16-week “Summer Program to Fight Hunger and Climate Change.”

4) Summer Together worked closely with the Town of North Hempstead and Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte regarding the opening of the Manorhaven Pool. Mariann advocated strongly for the pool to be free and cites the example of Summer Together as helping to inspire her efforts. Summer Together collaborated with the school district and the TONH parks department to enable residents to accept enrollment in Port schools as proof of residency for any family seeking daily entrance.

The following LIT members are leaders of the Summer Together team: Sonia Arora, Javiera Arenas, Ellen Davidson, Ilise Friedman, Dilia Kamensky, Elise May, Pam O'Connell, Hope Pecullan, Raju Rajan, Marivic Restivo and Analia Quispe.

Of course, Summer Together was possible only because of the generosity of the Port community – many thanks to all our donors and supporters!

Summer Together's fiscal sponsor is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Long Island Jobs With Justice. Tax-deductible donations can be made by credit card online at https://www.longislandtogether.org/summertogether, or a check can be made out to "Long Island Jobs With Justice" with memo line "Summer Together" and mailed to:

Summer Together c/o Long Island Jobs with Justice

Attention: Ani Halasz

390 Rabro Drive

Hauppauge, NY 11788

Summer Together supports children of all faiths, races, ethnicities and backgrounds.

For further information email: summertogether@longislandtogether.org, or call Raju Rajan at 917-940-9556.