As the Manhasset Community Fund approaches its 70th birthday, the nonprofit group shows no signs of slowing down.
The fund, whose fundraising drive runs from September to June, is raising money for 12 local charities.
“The Manhasset population has been supportive for so many decades,” said John Morse, who has served as the fund’s co-president for the past two years. “They’ve helped us achieve amazing things in the community.”
“Although Manhasset is an affluent town there are a number of people who have significant needs. We help autistic children, low-income families, women with breast cancer and others,” Morse said.
“You know who you’re helping,” added Iliza Bartels, the fund’s other co-president. “You’re helping your neighbors.”
The fund aims to raise $70,000 to $100,000 each year, most of it during the drive.
The fundraising campaign begins with a mailing to all Manhasset residents in mid-September. It continues with a second mailing in January and a final follow-up in late spring that targets donors from past years.
Last year the drive raised $62,000 and so far this year it has raised $19,000, Morse said.
The fund’s contributions have risen steadily each year since a two-year downturn after the 2008 recession, according to Morse and Bartels.
Morse highlighted the work of the Manhasset Women’s Coalition Against Breast Cancer, a recipient of grants from the fund.
“When a woman in this community is diagnosed with breast cancer, volunteers from that organization are at her house helping her cope,” he said.
He also pointed to the work of two other grant recipients, the Manhasset Special Education Parent Teacher Association and the Manhasset Parent Association for Special Education, which collaborate with local schools to ensure that students with special needs receive a quality education.
The fund began in 1946 after World War II as a Manhasset branch of the National War Fund, according to the group’s website, and during its first campaign, the group raised $38,000 in one month.
Soon after, the group transitioned into a general community fund, and it’s been operating under its mission of charity support since then.
Bartels joined the fund as a board member in 2003 and Morse did the same in 2010, they said. Both volunteer as presidents for the fund while holding full-time jobs: Morse as the head of a small media marketing company and Bartels as an independent financial adviser. “I was looking for a way to give back to the community,” he said. “It has been a moving experience for me seeing those we’ve helped and visiting the organizations we’ve supported.”
Other organizations that received contributions from the fund last year include Adventures in Learning, Child Abuse Prevention Services, Great Neck-Manhasset Community Child Care, Island Harvest, Manhasset-Great Neck Encouraging Our Children, Manhasset Student Aid Association, Nicholas Center for Autism, North Shore Child & Family Guidance and the Science Museum of Long Island.
“I intend to stay with the organization for the foreseeable future to help build up the donation base,” Morse said. “I wish we had more resources to support local charities.”
“In Manhasset neighbors have been helping neighbors for 70 years, and we hope to do so for another 70,” Bartels added.
