LONG ISLAND
Compassionate Communities
Nassau County, Long Island Compassionate Communities - 2019
On the bright, sunny morning of June 5th, the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury, NY was buzzing with excitement, filled with student presenters and their teachers from eleven elementary schools in New York’s Nassau County on Long Island. With the support of the Town of North Hempstead, HEART held the culminating celebration of our 2019 Compassionate Communities Awards program that had reached about 6,000 students in the Valley Stream, Hempstead, Mineola, and Roosevelt school districts. Before the clock struck noon, three schools would be selected as the first, second, and third place cash prize winners of the contest based on presentations that they gave before a panel of judges and an appreciative audience.
Participating Nassau County schools all gave presentations that showcased their efforts to create a school culture of compassion and respect and to enhance the wider community in which they play such a vital role. They created new programs and projects—or expanded existing programming—that highlight our deep connections to the animals with whom we share our daily lives, and our local and global natural world. Schools implemented innovative programs that highlight their important role in supporting the welfare of companion, wild, and farm animals through school-wide learning experiences, and active, community-based service projects.
An esteemed panel of independent judges—including Legislator Denise Ford from Nassau County District 4; Jed Painter, chief of the Animal Crimes Unit of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office; Dr. Joseph Famularo, former president and current chair of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents and the current superintendent of the Bellmore School District; Elizabeth Stein, director of Rescue Paw Foundation; and Melissa Gillespie, chair of the Suffolk County Bar’s Animal Law Committee—selected the winning schools. Rescue Paw Foundation provided the $5,000 first prize, $1,000 second prize, and $500 third prize gifts to recognize excellence in, and support further enhancement of, a school-wide approach to nurturing compassion and respect for all living beings.
