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Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor

REPORTER FILE PHOTO

Making us proud
To the Editor:
“This trip changed my life.”

This was the refrain we heard again and again at the Shelter Island Educational Foundation’s Grant Celebration at the Shelter Island Library on November 18.

Whether it was a trip to Broadway, a week at a New York University artificial intelligence camp, Young Artists and Writers Project (YAWP), sailing at the Shelter Island Yacht Club, the schooner trip or a 10-day adventure at the National Parks, every student said the same thing. “I will never forget this. Thank you.”

The Educational Foundation’s goal is to provide learning experiences beyond the classroom and this was apparent from the enthusiastic students and their wonderful multi-media presentations.

Thank you to Terry Lucas for opening the library on a Sunday and to Laura Dickerson and Anthony Zutter for giving up a Sunday to help us.

Thank you to School Superintendent Christine Finn for guiding the students and teachers in writing their grant applications and preparing their presentations.

Thank you to our hardworking executive board and grants committee members. To our donors, we give heartfelt thanks. We would never be able to fund these adventures without your support.

And lastly, thanks to the students. You make us proud.

Please visit ShelterIslandEdFoundation.org for more information.
JANINE MAHONEY
President, Shelter Island Educational Foundation

Helping St. Mary’s help others
To the Editor:
Another great St. Nicholas Fair was held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on December 1.

Once again, it was a success due to the hard work of all the helpers, young and older. The young little helpers at the Cafe serving soup, sandwiches, coffee, tea and dessert were efficient and adorable, according to the partakers. The older helpers had been at it for days to make it all come together, and it did.

However, there is something that is not sufficiently publicized, which is the fact that the proceeds from the raffle at the Fair do not benefit St. Mary’s, but support needy organizations on and off Shelter Island, including Eastern Long Island Hospital, East End Hospice, Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, The Retreat, food pantries and more.

The truly generous donors below who make the raffle not only possible, but also very productive, deserve our appreciation and should be getting our support in return. In short, please patronize our donors and thank them for their generosity!

Raffle donors include Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy, Bliss Department Store, Shelter Island Wines and Spirits, Marie Eiffel, William J. Mills, Riverhead Building Supply, Southold Fish Market, Shelter Island Reporter, We Go Fishing, Southold, A Lure Restaurant, Southold, Port of Egypt Marina, Raphael Vineyard, Martha Clara, Sea Tow, Macari Vineyards, The Pridwin, Shelter Island PBA, Cornucopia, Ram’s Head Inn, Stars Cafe and South Ferry.
BARBARA ALLEN-LIEBLEIN
Shelter Island

Good Old St. Nick
To the Editor:
On behalf of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Women, I would like to express my personal thanks to those who gave their time and support to the St. Nicholas Day Fair.

Saturday of last week was a beautiful, sunny and cold day and the community once again came to walk the Cookie Walk, dine at the lovely Cafe, buy chances, bid on the “not-so-silent” auction and purchase items from our selection of nearly-new items.

The list of donors not already thanked in a letter to the editor written by Barbara Lieblien, are Shelter Island Florist, Jack’s Marine, King Kullen, J.W. Piccozzi, Bay Street Theater, North Fork Theater, Ace Hardware, and especially: Suzanne Burston, Marian Brownlie, Dandy Liquors, Father McCarron and Gardiner’s Bay Country Club. Thank you for your generosity.

As a result of our Ham Dinner, Bakeless Cake Sale and St. Nicholas Day Fair, at the beginning of 2018, St. Mary’s Episcopal Women distributed funds to the following organizations: Shelter Island Senior Citizen Advisory Council, Senior Citizen Nutrition (Meals on Wheels), Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, Eastern Long Island Hospital, Shelter Island Food Pantry, Shelter Island Library, East End Hospice, Shelter Island Community Chorus, Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, Shelter Island Historical Society, Gift of Life Foundation, The Retreat, Shelter Island Vacation Bible School, Honorarium Graduating Senior, Shelter Island All Faith Youth Group, Shelter Island Education Foundation, St. Mary’s Capital Improvement, St. Mary’s Needlepoint Project, St. Mary’s Discretionary Fund and St. Mary’s Organ Fund. We could not have done this without Shelter Islanders coming together.

Blessings to all in 2019.
JANE BABINSKI
Shelter Island