Meadowbrook Women's Initiative

Courtesy Polly Hammer                          Meadowbrook Women’s Initiative members enjoyed a tour of the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine facility. Joining in the tour were, from left, Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Alan Kelly, students Jasmine Otkins, Camille Anderson and Tamara Casas, Vice Dean Veronica Catanese, former MWI President Lori Schoenfeld, MWI President Susan Gould and Ava Gorkin.

Merokean Linda Susman stood next to the magazine rack near the entrance of North Merrick Public Library with a book tucked under her arm, flipping through a magazine. A retired editor of a soap opera magazine and now a member of the Meadowbrook Women’s Initiative, Susman enjoys reading as much as writing.

“I actually had this book on hold,” she said, placing Talia Carner’s “Hotel Moscow” on top of a table secluded from library goers. “I got a call from her publicist, and she said she wanted to come back and do another book discussion with us because she really enjoyed it the first time.” 

MWI hosts several fundraisers each year, including the popular Book and Author Luncheon each May, where Carner was a guest speaker two years ago.

MWI fundraises for several causes through its philanthropy and community-service branches. The organization comprises retired women who are passionate about helping others by organizing fun and educational activities. The group, which has 600-plus members scattered throughout Long Island, formed in 1958 under the Brandeis University National Committee as the Meadowbrook Chapter. However, after being a part of the committee for so many years, Susman said, the women wanted to branch out on their own.

“About six years ago in 2009, we started to feel a little constricted by our association with Brandeis because they were taking all of the money that we fund-raised; it was all going to them, which was part of the arrangement we had made,” Susman said. “And they started to give us some rules about how many members we’re allowed to have, and we started to feel a little uncomfortable.”

Susman said MWI also began to realize that there is a great need for fundraising on Long Island, so the group decided to branch out to give to those closer to home. It developed a mission statement (www.meadowbrookwomen.org) that states MWI is an organization “dedicated to promoting lifetime learning, servicing the community and raising funds for worthwhile local causes,” including the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, which the group established a relationship with in 2009.

“The MWI has been partnered with Hofstra for quite some time, since its inception actually,” said Meredith Celentano, the medical school’s assistant vice president for development and alumni affairs. “This amazing membership organization supports the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine each year with significant gifts that support summer work for our medical students who spend up to 10 weeks in organizations in need of high-level medical care.”

This relationship was actively sought out by MWI as, Susman said, the group wanted to form a close relationship with a school like it had done with Brandeis University. “At the time, coincidentally, Hofstra was just about to launch its medical school,” Susman said. “And they were very eager to have a relationship with us.” 

“Our students benefit greatly from the grants, as several choose to spend time in high-need areas, and this pays their salary for the summer, rather than taking a job in an unrelated field for the same time,” Celentano said.

Forty MWI members saw first-hand how the grants positively affected students when the group was invited to take a tour of the upgraded medical facility on Aug. 27. Three students greeted the group: Jasmine Otkins, Camille Anderson and Tamara Casas, all of whom received MWI grants.

“The highlight for me was meeting three medical students who are entering their second year,” MWI President and Hofstra liaison Susan Gould said. “They told us about their project, what it meant to them, and they showed us around the school.”

Vice Dean Veronica Catanese and Vice President of Development Alan Kelly welcomed MWI, Susman said. “Veronica told us all facts about the medical school and what they’ve accomplished in the last four years,” she said. “Then we watched a documentary titled ‘Rx: Doctors of Tomorrow.’” 

After the documentary, the women were split into three groups, with each student acting as a tour guide. “They even took us to the structure laboratory, where they have cadavers and dead-body parts,” Susman said with wide eyes. Not to be morbid, she said, that was her favorite part of the tour.

Aside from cadavers, Susman said the students showed them how their grants were being used. “It was so gratifying to see where our money was going,” she said. MWI member will continue to support Hofstra’s School of Medicine and hope to continue the partnership for many more years, Susman said.

“This partnership has become very special,” Celentano said. “These women are local Long Islanders who all wish to maintain their connections to the Island while being philanthropic, and they do so through the work of MWI.”