Category: Community Support

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.

Company Donates $500 to Sponsor Employee’s Daughter Who Has Participated in SONY Competitions

Gershow Recycling team will be “freezin’ for a reason” when they take part in the 4th Annual Town of Brookhaven Polar Plunge on November 23 at noon at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai. Gershow will also be one of the sponsors at the event.

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, winter months to show support for the organization. This year, Gershow is donating $500 to sponsor Lori Sindone, whose father, Louis, is a longtime Gershow employee. Lori has been competing in the Special Olympics for many years.

Gershow Vice President Joe Bertuccio has been raising money towards the Polar Plunge for a few years along with his daughter, Danielle Bertuccio Chasse, a teacher who works with special-needs children. This year, Ms. Bertuccio Chasse — along with her nephews, Ray, Daniel and Chris Colon — will be taking 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.

“We are very proud to support Special Olympics and the members of the Gershow family who are taking part in this special event,” says Kevin Gershowitz, president of Gershow Recycling. “Our involvement in the Polar Plunge is a great way to support an important cause within the community.”

Gershow Recycling generously donated materials to the Islip High School catapult team so they could make improvements on their catapult, named the “Jack-O-Splatter.”

Gershow supplied the team with much-needed replacement parts such as a steel rod and metal bearings to help launch the pumpkins further and more accurately.

The team won its division at the Last Fling Pumpkin & Football Sling in Warren County, New Jersey on October 19-20 with a distance of 983 feet. On October 26, the team placed third at the annual Pumpkin Fling, which took place at the Suffolk County Farm and Educational Center in Yaphank. The team will then head off to the Punkin Chunkin World Championships on November 1-3 in Bridgeville, Delaware.

In 2009, Gershow donated scrap iron to the team to help them build and reinforce the trailer for the “Jack-O-Splatter.” Since they do not have a budget within the school district, the team relies on donations from local businesses and people in the community.

In addition, Gershow donated hardhats to the team members. The Islip High School Catapult Team thanked Gershow for its ongoing sponsorship and donations.

Gershow Recycling donated the use of 25 vehicles that were used in the 2013 North American Vehicle Rescue Challenge, which took place on the training grounds of the Hagerman Fire Department in East Patchogue on September 13-14.

Fifteen teams from Long Island, upstate New York, Illinois, Canada, and Sweden took part in the two-day competition. The top five overall winners were:

• Ottawa, Ontario, Canada *
• West Coast Rescue Team, Skaraborg, Sweden
• Burlington, Ontario, Canada *
• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada *
• Montauk Fire Department

* Indicates Overall North American Regional Winners

Each team participated in three challenge pits: Limited Pit (where only hand and pneumatic tools are used), Unlimited Pit and Rapid Pit (in both pits, 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,” while Rapid Pit participants only had 10 minutes to safely perform the extrication. All teams were judged based on the command structure, hazard and scene control, patient and rescuer safety and techniques used to disentangle the patient.