Long Island Business News: Long Island Nonprofit Briefs April 18, 2003

Bartenders' Ball raises $50,000

More than 600 people helped raise $50,000 at the 21st annual Long Island Bartenders' Ball recently held at the East Wind in Wading River.

The funds will benefit the Fortunato Breast Health Center and breast cancer treatment at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson.

$100,000 in playground grants available

KaBOOM! has announced its 2003 Playground Challenge Grant Program, underwritten by Computer Associates in Islandia.

The program will award 20 $5,000 grants for the planning and construction of playgrounds to eligible community-based, non-profit organizations in the United States and Canada.

Groups that apply for the grant awards must demonstrate a need for a new or improved community playground, have the ability to organize volunteers in the planning and construction of the playground and have the ability to raise the additional funds needed for the playground.

Grant award winners must also commit to building their playgrounds by April 2004. Recipients will be selected by a panel of CA employees and KaBOOM! playground experts.

KaBOOM! is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that has built more than 450 playgrounds across North America.

For more information, call (312) 360-9520.

Angel Ball Benefit Gala

The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence is holding its 16th annual Angel Ball Benefit Gala May 21 at the Garden City Hotel in Garden City.

At the event, LICADD will present Michael J. Dowling, president and chief executive of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System with its 2003 Award for Community Service in recognition of "his outstanding service to the health care profession and the Long Island community."

The Angel Ball helps raise funds for life saving programs LICADD provides for individuals and families.

For reservations and more information about sponsorship opportunities, call (516) 747-2606, Ext. 18.

Reynolds' painting of Joel

benefits fire department

Renowned artist Mark Reynolds donated a painting of Billy Joel to be auctioned at Gurney's Inn May 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 pm.

Inspired by Lenny DeFinna, of Lenny's on the Dock, Reynolds depicts Joel wearing a fire helmet - specifically to give homage to the fallen firefighters of 9/11. It also includes an image of the Twin Towers, with the lost souls at the base depicted as birds rising to the heavens. An image of the Middle East is in the background. Joel autographed the piece.

All proceeds will go to the Montauk Fire Department and the widows and children directly affected by the events of Sept. 11. The funds will help the fire department meet its obligation to protect the community with fire and ambulatory services.

The event includes a cocktail party, hors d'oeuvres and entertainment hosted by DeFinna, who is also acting as auctioneer.

Tickets are $100 per person or $150 a couple.

Tickets can be purchased at Saks Fifth Avenue in Southampton (631) 283-3500 or by calling (631) 668-6891.

Bid on a beneficial night for ALA

Registration deadline for the American Lung Association of Nassau- Suffolk's 1st annual Casino Night Apr. 30 at the Garden City Hotel has been extended to Apr. 25.

The event will feature Las Vegas style games, including black jack, poker, craps and roulette, as well as the Garden City Hotel's cuisine and cocktails.

All proceeds will help combat asthma and other forms of lung disease.

Admission is $150 with advance registration or $175 at the door. Ticket prices include $150 of free casino play.

Sponsorships are still available.

For more information, call (631) 231-5864, Ext. 24.

Hicks supports breast cancer groups

During its recent Flower and Garden Show, Hicks Nurseries in Westbury displayed The Healing Garden quilt, a queen-sized cover sewed by a Carle Place homemakers group for the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program in Garden City.

The quilt is appropriate for display in a garden center since its patterns are derived from plants that are used in the treatment of cancer. They include rosy periwinkle, a common groundcover from which is derived a drug that helps increase the chance of remission for leukemia, sweet potato, which is now in clinical trials in the treatment of lung cancer.

The nursery is also involved with a breast cancer fund called Meghan's Pansies, named in memory of a young woman who died of breast cancer.

Each year a portion of the sale of pansies during the month of April is donated to Meghan's Pansies to educate teenagers and young women about the disease.

For more information, call (516) 334-0066.

CyberLounge assists students

Suffolk Federal Credit Union in Medford, a not-for-profit financial institution, recently opened CyberLounge at the Michael J. Grant campus of Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.

CyberLounge is a new design incorporated into SCCC's Captree Commons Student Lounge. It includes six individual terminals offering free-use high-speed Internet access and a color laser printer for downloading research, graphics and Web pages. The area is manned by computer-experienced interns under the supervision of SFCU as part of a business internship opportunity.

Families Walk for Hope

The 9th annual Families Walk for Hope is being held May 3 to benefit the Fortunato Breast Health Center and breast cancer treatment at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson.

Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the walk begins at 9 a.m. Participants will walk the streets of Port Jefferson and Belle Terre.

The event includes refreshments and a barbeque lunch provided by Waldbaum's.

For more information on how to become a corporate sponsor, how to organize a walking team or to become an individual walker, call (631) 476-2723.

Celebrate Earth Day

The Nature Conservancy invites Long Islanders to celebrate Earth Day by helping to clear nature sites that are overrun with invasive weeds.

The sites and dates are:

* Apr. 22 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.): Autumn Olive removal-Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve, Town of Babylon. Volunteers will clear invasive Autumn Olives from this site so that native grasses can be re-planted to restore the region.

* Apr. 22 (10 a.m.): Mashomack Preserve, Shelter Island

Volunteers will help restore an area of Mashomack. Projects include spreading wood chips on the trails and removing invasive weeds.

* Apr. 26 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.): Autumn Olive removal II-Edgewood

Oak Brush Plains Preserve, Town of Babylon.

* May 10, a beach cleanup is scheduled at David Weld Preserve, Nissequogue in Smithtown.

To register, call (631) 367-3384, Ext. 131.

Charity golf outing

HJMT Communication is holding its 1st annual charity golf outing July 1 at Lido Golf Course in Lido Beach.

All proceeds will benefit the American Lung Association of Nassau- Suffolk, the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and the Long Island Venture Group - all not-for-profit agencies represented by HJMT.

Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. A shotgun start will begin at 1 p.m.

The event includes 18 holes with cart, an on-course lunch, raffles, a silent auction, a light dinner/cocktail reception and a chance to win a 2003 Harley Davidson.

Sponsorships and tee signs are available.

For more information, registration or sponsorship opportunities call (516) 432-9133.

Calling all artists

Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor is sponsoring a juried outdoor Art Festival on July 12 and 13.

Fine arts categories include oils/acrylics on canvas, water media on paper, graphics and drawing, mixed media, sculpture and photography.

A non-refundable jury fee is $10.

The deadline for applications is June 5. Those accepted will be informed by June 13.

For a brochure, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the attention of Alison Carley, Nassau County Museum of Art, One Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor, NY 11576.

For more information, call (516) 484-9337.