The following article about the OysterFest was in New York's Newsday - HPS got a mention. Yeah! Might be nice to drop the author a thank you note.
Newsday.com
Oyster Bay's Oyster Festival benefits nonprofits
BY SUSANA ENRIQUEZ
susana.enriquez@newsday.com
October 17, 2008
For two dozen nonprofit organizations in Oyster Bay, one weekend of bivalve festivities at the hamlet's waterfront is their livelihood.In its 25th year, this weekend's Oyster Festival is benefiting more people than ever, from preschoolers to seniors.
"It's a bigger and better festival every year," said Tom Reardon, founder of the festival running today through Sunday.
When the idea for the festival was conceived in the 1970s, the food court could have gone to for-profit vendors who would pay for their booths.
But Reardon said he and his fellow founders had another idea: open the food court to nonprofits so they could earn money for their causes. "It was a selfish kind of thing," he said.For the Oyster Bay Cooperative Preschool, which has had a booth at the festival since 1984, the event has become its largest fundraiser. The funds raised allow the school to provide full or partial scholarships for 10 percent of its students."We pride ourselves that we remain affordable," said school director Beverly Zembko, who is chairwoman of the festival's food court. "Without the Oyster Festival, we would have to raise our tuition significantly."
At the Doubleday Babcock Senior Center booth, it's the clam fritters and 400 gallons of New England and Manhattan clam chowders that bring in thousands of dollars for transportation, meals and exercise classes for Nassau seniors.The festival is a large fundraiser for the center, second only to a direct-mail campaign, said Gail Speranza, the center's executive director.
Without it, she said, other forms of fundraising would be necessary."Nothing would make up for this," she said.Groups also participate to bring awareness to their causes and empower those who benefit from the money.
For those with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome - a genetic metabolic disorder that causes albinism, visual impairment and a platelet dysfunction - selling ribs, fried chicken and onion rings helps participants feel active in the search for a cure."It's therapeutic for people in a life and death fight to get out there and do something to try to change the outcome," said Donna Appell, president and founder of the HPS Network, a national support group based in Oyster Bay."We desperately need it and we're grateful for the opportunity," Appell said.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Newsday.com
Oyster Bay's Oyster Festival benefits nonprofits
BY SUSANA ENRIQUEZ
susana.enriquez@newsday.com
October 17, 2008
For two dozen nonprofit organizations in Oyster Bay, one weekend of bivalve festivities at the hamlet's waterfront is their livelihood.In its 25th year, this weekend's Oyster Festival is benefiting more people than ever, from preschoolers to seniors.
"It's a bigger and better festival every year," said Tom Reardon, founder of the festival running today through Sunday.
When the idea for the festival was conceived in the 1970s, the food court could have gone to for-profit vendors who would pay for their booths.
But Reardon said he and his fellow founders had another idea: open the food court to nonprofits so they could earn money for their causes. "It was a selfish kind of thing," he said.For the Oyster Bay Cooperative Preschool, which has had a booth at the festival since 1984, the event has become its largest fundraiser. The funds raised allow the school to provide full or partial scholarships for 10 percent of its students."We pride ourselves that we remain affordable," said school director Beverly Zembko, who is chairwoman of the festival's food court. "Without the Oyster Festival, we would have to raise our tuition significantly."
At the Doubleday Babcock Senior Center booth, it's the clam fritters and 400 gallons of New England and Manhattan clam chowders that bring in thousands of dollars for transportation, meals and exercise classes for Nassau seniors.The festival is a large fundraiser for the center, second only to a direct-mail campaign, said Gail Speranza, the center's executive director.
Without it, she said, other forms of fundraising would be necessary."Nothing would make up for this," she said.Groups also participate to bring awareness to their causes and empower those who benefit from the money.
For those with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome - a genetic metabolic disorder that causes albinism, visual impairment and a platelet dysfunction - selling ribs, fried chicken and onion rings helps participants feel active in the search for a cure."It's therapeutic for people in a life and death fight to get out there and do something to try to change the outcome," said Donna Appell, president and founder of the HPS Network, a national support group based in Oyster Bay."We desperately need it and we're grateful for the opportunity," Appell said.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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