In the Spotlight
Janet and Louis Levinson
2008 Honorees
Family & Children's Scholarship Fund Dinner
When it comes to living their values, the Levinson's make it a family affair. Janet, Lou and their three children Ryan 18, Matt 15, and Brianna 13, all get involved in helping Long Island's neediest children and families. 
Mom, Janet, who is a Senior Vice President at Statehouse Casualty and Dad, Lou, who is the President of the Casualty Division of Ace Westchester Insurance Company, were introduced to the work of Family & Children's by Scott & Jo-Ellen Treiber who are close friends and huge advocates of doing good and giving back to the community. At one of our past Scholarship Fund dinners, where 100 deserving young men and women received a $2500 award towards their college tuition, Janet met Linda Zuckerman (formerly Sansaverino) who was a scholarship recipient. Linda was bright, articulate, energetic and enthusiastic – she had charisma! Janet and Linda hit it off and as a result of that dinner Janet hired Linda to work with her. That was just the beginning of the family's outreach efforts.
Last year, the Levinson family shared a holiday dinner with the staff and residents of The Walkabout Program, a transitional house in Freeport, serving homeless adolescents. According to Lou, "The experience was amazing for both us and our kids, everyone was involved from grocery shopping to cooking to picking gifts, serving dinner and cleaning up. We were all touched by the reaction of the kids (Walkabout residents) to our family – it was a great experience, one we hope to make a tradition. Sharing things like this with our kids is what life's all about."
On June 23rd at this year's Scholarship Fund Dinner at Westbury Manor, the Levinson's will be the 2008 Honorees. The Levinson's are being honored for their contributions and for the example they set for their family, friends and co-workers. When asked why they feel so strongly that philanthropy should be encouraged in their children and in their own lives, Lou summed it up this way "for me it's always been it's the things you don't do in life that you regret, not the things you've done. For us, if we didn't choose to help others in our community we would have deep regrets later on. And, there has been no better feeling at least in recent memory of spending Christmas dinner with the Walkabout family. It helped us all refocus a bit on the things we take for granted like a home-cooked meal or family dinner. What for us is an every day occurrence, seemed like a gift to these kids, their genuine appreciation for this small act was almost overwhelming… helping others feels good! We then got involved with the Summer to Remember program and sent two kids to camp last year. Our gift was matched by my company Ace Westchester Insurance Company, so we were able to impact two kids – it's easy and I have to tell you it feels great - no regrets."
If you want to help sponsor a child and contribute to their scholarship fund or give them a Summer to Remember, click here or email us at giving@familyandchildrens.org.
Grants, Honors & Awards
On May 6th, The Children's Center at Cohalan District Court hosted its annual book drive with coffee and breakfast for its supporters, volunteers, and friends. 
New York State Senator Caesar Trunzo has been a huge supporter of the Children's Center and his representative Bill Condon (pictured here with Family & Children's Jim Harnett, Wendy Meyer, and Richard Bell) was on hand to congratulate the supporters, volunteers, and employees on their work and the recent upgrade to the facility which helps over 1500 children each year. These children, whose parents are involved with the judicial system, now have a safe, nurturing place to wait while their parents sort out their court-related difficulties. We are grateful to Senator Trunzo for his continued support of The Children's Center.
A team of volunteers from Newsday bounded into our Roosevelt Counseling Center to give it a fresh new look and much needed repair. Pictured here with our Nancy Manigat and Albert Wade, the volunteers take a moment to smile for our camera. Thank you all very much!
Many of our corporate sponsors and volunteers were on hand for our National Volunteer Week celebration at the Garden City Hotel. Pictured here with Bernie Kennedy, Board Chairman and Jim Harnett, President are:
| Dale Cole, Newsday Charities
| 
|
| Tracy Nguyen, National Grid
|  |
| Ellen Smiley, Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union
| 
|
| Beverly Lee-Wo, Motorola
| 
|
| Marian Conway, Roslyn Savings Foundation
|  |
AROUND THE AGENCY
Our Cultural Competence Committee is sponsoring a voter registration drive in Hempstead from May 27th to May 30th. Beginning with a 3-hour kickoff celebration on Tuesday May 27th at the Hagedorn Family Resource Center located at 120 Greenwich Street, the agency hopes to more fully engage the community it serves in our democratic process. Family & Children's is inviting the community to join them at one of four locations over the course of four days in order to encourage greater turn-out by area residents in the November presidential election.
Family & Children's will be hosting registration sessions in 4 easily, accessible locations:
May 27th – 120 Greenwich Street – Noon -3:00p.m. – light refreshments will be served
May 28th - 129 Jackson Street – Noon to 2 p.m.
May 29th - 126 N. Franklin Avenue – Noon to 2 p.m.
May 30th - 31 Main Street – Noon to 2 p.m.
