Grants go to Tick-Borne Disease Center
Southampton Hospital’s Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center has been the recipient of two contributions to support its efforts to educate the public about the illnesses and ways to diagnose and treat them as well as promoting collaboration among experts in the medical community.A $100,000 donation came from The Hamptons Invitational Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament, representing a portion of the proceeds from the inaugural event organized by Dennis Suskind, Edward Burke Jr. and Rick Hartmann in 2014.
An additional $25,000 came from Brian Kelly, owner of East End Tick & Mosquito Control, the father of two young children and a former school teacher, who told hospital officials he’s passionate about informing children in the community about the dangers of tick-borne diseases.
His contribution will be directed to the development of curriculum for local school districts in accordance with state requirements for school-age children, according to hospital director or marketing and public affairs Marsha Kenny.
The center has a series of public educational events upcoming during the summer season. A panel will be at Westhampton Free Library at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18; at 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Shelter Island Public Library; at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor in either July or August, with the exact date to be set; and at Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library on Wednesday, September 30, at 6:30 p.m.
A previous public education event was held May 2 at Parrish Memorial Hall at which Dr. Thomas Mather, professor of entomology at the University of Rhode Island and Director of the enter for Vector-Borne Disease, was the speaker at that event.
