Category: Community Support

Annual Event Brings Community Together through Sports

Gershow Recycling sponsored and donated $2,000 to help defray the costs of putting on the sixth annual Play for Peace/Jugando Por La Paz Soccer Tournament, which was held August 9 at the Patchogue-Medford Youth Soccer Complex in Medford.

Approximately 500 spectators came to this free event. Twelve teams — eight men’s teams and four women’s teams — participated in the tournament. In the men’s division, Suffolk County Federal Credit Union was the winning team. The winner of the Women’s Division was The Village Idiot Bar & Grill. In addition to the tournament, members of the New York Cosmos hosted a soccer clinic for the children in attendance.

The goals of Play For Peace were to bring together diverse nationalities within the community for a full day of World Cup-style soccer and to use sports as a way for people from different ethnic backgrounds to find common ground. This year’s tournament was organized by the office of Suffolk County Legislator Robert Calarco.

“Gershow Recycling is pleased again to support this year’s Play for Peace tournament. We salute former Legislator Eddington for establishing this event and Legislator Calarco for continuing it, as an effort to bring members of our diverse communities together and build understanding through sports,” said Kevin Gershowitz, president of Gershow Recycling.

In support of local fire departments and the East Patchogue community, Gershow Recycling donated the use of 10 vehicles for the Northeast Vehicle Extrication Challenge, which was held on June 28 at the fire department’s training grounds in East Patchogue.

Ten teams from Long Island, upstate New York and New Jersey and volunteer judges from Canada took part in the daylong competition. Each team participated in two challenge pits: Limited Pit (where only hand and pneumatic tools are used), and Unlimited Pit (where all rescue tools are available, including heavy hydraulic rescue equipment). Those who competed in the Limited and Unlimited Pit had 20 minutes to extricate a “victim” from a “crash.” All teams were judged based on the command structure, hazard and scene control, patient and rescuer safety and techniques used to disentangle the patient.

Annual Event Sponsored by Gershow Recycling

The Patchogue Lions Club held its fourteenth annual “Christmas in June” event on Wednesday, June 25 at Boomer’s Family Fun Center in Medford. For the ninth consecutive year, as part of its ongoing community service, Gershow Recycling sponsored the event by donating $2,500.

Approximately 140 school children from seven elementary schools in the Patchogue-Medford School District were chosen to participate in this year’s event by their respective principals. Since the Patchogue Lions Club has started “Christmas in June,” more than 1,500 children have participated in this fun-filled event.

“This was a nice way to give these children an opportunity to have some fun and spend the day with their friends,” said Vito LaMonica, Event Chairman and Past President, Patchogue Lions Club. “It gave the children a place to enjoy themselves, especially with the school year drawing to a close.”

Children were treated to lunch and then given full access for several hours to attractions, including rides, go-carts, wall climbing, bumper boats, and arcade games.

“We were very happy in joining with the Patchogue Lions Club to make this day possible for these children,” said Jonathan Abrams, Manager, Gershow Recycling. “They always have a great time here. With the summer season beginning, the timing couldn’t be better.”

On June 13, Paul Desmond, a custodian at William Floyd Elementary School, brought down 2 million can tabs that were collected by the school’s students over the course of the school year as part of the “Can Tabs for Kids” program. The program benefits the Sunrise Fund at Stony Brook University Medical Center, an organization that raises awareness and funds for specific projects to assist families with children fighting childhood cancer.

As part of the Can Tabs for Kids program, students bring in aluminum tabs from soft drink and pet food cans that their parents purchased and place them in collection bins located in their classrooms. The bags are taken out of the bins and brought to Gershow, where the contents will be weighed and recycled. Each year, Gershow will match the amount raised by the school.

The Can Tabs for Kids program began at William Floyd Elementary School on February 4, 2011. Maria Marks, a former William Floyd student who was diagnosed with cancer at a young age, was the inspiration for the program. Between the ages of two weeks and six months, she underwent numerous chemotherapy sessions. The constant exposure to the radiation resulted in Maria losing her hearing in both ears and now she must wear hearing aids. Her cancer has since been in remission.

The month of June marked International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This year alone, an estimated 10,450 children – or one out of 408 children – under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year alone in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. It is estimated that 1,350 children will die from the disease this year.

In support of local fire departments and the Huntington community, Gershow Recycling donated the use of 30 vehicles for the 7th Annual Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament, which was held at the Northport Fire Department’s Training Grounds on May 10.

Twenty-one teams from 12 fire departments in the Town of Huntington, as well as fire departments from North Bellmore, West Babylon, and Kings Park, competed in the tournament. Each team was judged on the amount of time it took to perform the extrication, the handling of equipment and the safety procedures they followed. After the tournament ended, the vehicles were shredded and recycled at Gershow’s facility. Proceeds from the tournament went to benefit the Suffolk County Burn Center.

Newsday: “Lifesavers Face Off in Annual Tourney,” 5/11/14

Gershow Recycling presented a check in the amount of $700 to Glory House Recovery, Inc. The donation was used to help purchase hundreds of toys that were given out to the children in the community at the organization’s fourth annual Holiday of Giving & Information Expo on December 14, 2013 at Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead.

The Holiday of Giving & Information Expo provided holiday joy and entertainment to families in the communities. The event was co-hosted by Glory House Recovery, Inc. and The Office of Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams. Both Legislator Abrahams and Glory House Recovery thanked Gershow for its generous donation and continuing support of the community.

Gershow previously worked with Legislator Abrahams and Glory House Recovery Inc. during the 30th annual National Night Out event on August 6, 2013 at Cow Meadow Park in Freeport. Those who came by Gershow’s table learned how to recycle their unwanted scrap metal. They also received children’s activity books, literature on the company, recyclable shopping bags and magnetic key chains.

On January 18, Gershow Recycling invited local high school robotics teams to its Medford facility to receive free aluminum scrap to help construct their robots to be used at School-Business Partnerships of Long Island’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. Eight teams took advantage of the program and visited Gershow that day: Half Hollow Hills West, Hauppauge, Longwood, North Shore, Northport, Plainview-Old Bethpage, Sachem and Westhampton Beach.

Members of the robotics teams used the aluminum scrap and their kits of parts to help them build a 120-pound robot. They had six weeks to construct the robot and prepare for the competition. The robotics teams thanked Gershow for its support.

Company Representatives and Their Families Take Part in the Polar Plunge in Support of Employee’s Daughter Who Is a SONY Participant

On November 23, members of Gershow Recycling and their families took part in the 4th Annual Town of Brookhaven Polar Plunge at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai. Gershow was also one of the sponsors at the event and provided doughnuts and hot chocolate for the participants.

The Polar Plunge is an annual event that helps raise money for special-needs athletes who take part in Special Olympics New York. Sponsors and community members jump in the Long Island Sound during the cold months to show support for the organization. This year, Gershow donated $500 to sponsor Lori Sindone, whose father, Louis, is a longtime Gershow employee. Lori has been competing in the Special Olympics for years.

Joe Bertuccio, Vice President, Gershow Recycling, has been raising money towards the Polar Plunge for the past few years along with his daughter, Danielle Bertuccio Chasse, a teacher who works with special-needs children. This year, Ms. Bertuccio Chasse — along with other family members of the Gershow employees — took the plunge.

Special Olympics New York is a nonprofit organization that has more than 60,000 athletes training and competing year-round in 22 Olympics-style sports. Athletes and their family members or caregivers are never charged to participate.