A crowd of almost 300 people gathered to support the Massapequa Community Fund’s first annual dinner and auction November 1, raising $80,000 and having a wonderful time doing it.

"I just can’t believe how generous people were," said Eileen Minogue who co chaired the event with Maura Kirby, both former graduates of the Massapequa School District. "It was a fundraiser but it felt more like a reunion and everyone there had a smile on their face."

"I thought it was great," said Maura Kirby. "It was really more than we had ever expected and people had a wonderful time."

The event, a formal dinner, was held at Manor East in Massapequa and kicked off what the organizers said would be an annual event to raise money for the fund.

The Massapequa Fund, established by actor and former Massapequan Billy Baldwin, Chris Bevilacqua, Mickey Harley, and Jim O’Rourke, began as an idea. The men wanted to give back something to the community that had done so much and meant so much to them. They met several times to discuss how to approach the idea and the Foundation was formed. Its goal is to raise $1 million, the proceeds of which will be used each year for local scholarships, grants to local organizations and seed money for new projects and ventures—all designed to make Massapequa an even better place in which to live and work, said the organizers.

The not for profit group’s Advisory Board consists of Bob Gannon, Rich Genovese, Kirby and her husband John, Minogue, Lisa and Pat O’Rourke, John Patafio and Martin Voight.

In addressing the group, Baldwin said he was "blown away" by the response of the former graduates, many of whom traveled distances to be there.

"It is just so inspiring," he said. "I always knew that Massapequa was a wonderful place and this proves it once again."

The live auction was conducted by Sid Rosenberg, of WFAN-Radio. DJ for the event was Mike Gregorio and Joseph Romagnano of Premier Party Network.

In a letter that appeared in a journal published for the evening, the founders said that while the fund is already underway, more needs to be done.

"We need help to realize our goals; we hope that the MCF is a mechanism that will allow everyone to invest in the community’s future."

Scholarships have been established in the following names: Alexander Baldwin Memorial Scholarship, in the name of Billy Baldwin’s father, a former teacher an coach in the district; George Cain, a resident and New York City firefighter who lost his life 9/11; Thomas and Timothy Haskell, both residents and New York City Firefighters who lost their lives 9/11; Daniel O’Callaghan, a firefighter and resident who also died 9/11; Michael Beier, a 1981 graduate of Berner who went on to have a successful career on Wall Street and died in April 2003; the Meg D’Elia Memorial Scholarship. D’Elia was graduate and outstanding high school athlete who died following a battle against cancer.

Many of the family members of those remembered by Memorial Scholarships through the MCF attended the event.

"I don’t think we would do any- thing differently, except try to figure out some way to have an event that would accommodate even more people next year," said Minogue who pointed out that before the organizers could even formally announce the event all of the 300 tickets were sold. "Many others in the community expressed an interest in attending, but we simply could not fit any more but we will have to come up with a solution for next year because we want as many people to take part as possible."

"We just had no idea this was going to take off the way it did," said Kirby. "We were dumbfounded. But we don’t want to offend anyone, so next year we will have to hold an even bigger fundraiser."

The Massapequa

Community Fund

Dinner and Reunion