Old Westbury woman honored for philanthropic, community leadership

Amelia Camurati
Gayle Berg was honored Thursday with the Robert S. Boas Award for Philanthropic and Community Leadership from the UJA Federation of New York. (Photo courtesy UJA Federation)

Old Westbury resident Gayle Berg has worn many hats during her decades with the UJA Federation of New York.

For all of her work with the federation, Berg was honored with the Robert S. Boas Award for Philanthropic and Community Leadership during the organization’s annual Summerfest fundraiser last Thursday.

The UJA Federation of New York is one of the largest philanthropic groups in the world, and the organization raises and allocates funds annually to fulfill a mission to “care for people in need, inspire a passion for Jewish life and learning, and strengthen Jewish communities in New York, in Israel, and around the world.”

“It’s one of these organizations that I think is a perfect illustration of people coming together around something that is important and they’re passionate about,” Berg said. “I believe UJA has been good at being able to create an inclusive community where they’ve been able to utilize the collective power for the common good. I think it’s a very special ability to be able to harness the power of a group of people to stand as one and do good things together. I think it’s one of the challenges going forward, but I also think it’s why we’ve survived so well in the past.”

Old Westbury resident and Roslyn psychologist Gayle Berg, pictured center with musician Gavin DeGrew, was honored last week for her decades of work with the UJA Federation of New York. (Photo courtesy UJA Federation)

During her time as chairman of the Long Island Poverty Round Table, Berg realized the problem was slowly spreading to the local Jewish community.

“We don’t have tent cities on Long Island, and we don’t really have people living on the streets, but we do have people living in their cars,” Berg said. “People can … have a house but they don’t have cash or money to heat it. The shape and face of poverty on Long Island is very different than it looks in an urban environment.”

As chairman, Berg worked to design food pantries that looked and felt like typical grocery stores to protect the privacy of those in need. Berg said a lot of the community is still in denial that poverty is a growing problem on Long Island because many people are afraid to ask for help.

“There is a lot of stigma and shame in seeking out social services that people who live in urban environments would not necessarily back off from doing because they can be anonymous,” Berg said. “Out here, everyone knows your business. It’s small town living, so there’s stigma and shame.”

Berg also spent six years as chairman of the Government Relations Committee, and part of her time was spent dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“In partnership, we’re providing the services for the most vulnerable in our community, and I have found that work very rewarding,” Berg said. “My experiences with the local government officials have been very responsive to UJA because they’ve experienced us as an agency that’s been effective and efficient.”

Berg and her husband, Al, traveled to Israel in April as part of UJA’s Centennial Mission. The couple has participated in UJA missions since 1997, when they attended a family mission to Israel. Since then, they have traveled with UJA to Cuba, the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, Argentina and India.

Berg has been a practicing psychologist in her hometown of Roslyn for 33 years. In 2009, Berg received the American Psychological Association’s Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award for Advocacy, and in 2008, she received the New York State Psychological Association’s Allen V. Williams Jr. Memorial Award.

Proceeds from Summerfest, headlined this year by Gavin DeGraw, benefit the federation’s annual campaign.

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