(Courtesy of OHEL) More than 125 friends and supporters of OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services joined the 15th Annual OHEL Rosemil Healthcare Golf and Tennis Classic. “Drive Out Stigma” was the event slogan, mirroring OHEL’s mission of 50 years of breaking down stigmas in the community.
The event was held at Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor, NY on June 17, and was a great success. Eve and Stephen Milstein and Rosemil Healthcare were once again the generous benefactors of this year’s event. Marc Herskowitz of Infinity Land Services was the premium giveaway sponsor and all golfers were thrilled to receive a Golf Buddy Laser Rangefinder. Several corporate sponsors went above and beyond to support OHEL’s children and families.
Special thanks to event co-chairs Ben Englander, Izzy Kaufman, Jonathan Marks, Michelle Sulzberger and Jeffrey Schwartz for working tirelessly, as always, to create yet another fantastic event to benefit OHEL.
Golfers and tennis players enjoyed a lavish breakfast, a delicious and plentiful barbecue lunch on the greens and a sumptuous buffet dinner catered by Catering by Michael Schick. During dinner, Malka Fischman, executive director of Shulamith High School, told her personal story of OHEL’s impact on her family.
Fischman moved the audience to tears, describing the transformative impact that OHEL’s inclusive summer camp, Camp Kaylie, had on her son. He overcame many challenges to thrive and grow in his self-esteem and self-confidence. “He came home a different child that first summer of attendance.” She continued to speak with pride when, several years later, her son became a staff member at Camp Kaylie.
The winning golf foursomes received beautiful trophies and awards in the country club’s ballroom. The first place winning foursome was David Rosenberg, Sam Fruchter, Steven Fruchter and Noah Fruchter. Kenneth Schuckman, Jason Breitstone, Gary Meltzer and Matthew Colantonio came in second place, with Jonathan Marks and family coming in third.
Great raffle prizes were awarded, including a 55” flat screen TV, the latest Apple iPad, autographed baseballs from several Yankees legends and VIP Mets tickets. Other prizes featured hotel and restaurant certificates, tech gear, Broadway show tickets and golf foursomes at prestigious country clubs.
“This is really an important yearly event. I’m proud to be a part of this outing and glad that so many people from different communities and corporate teams join for a spectacular golf and tennis outing which supports so many of the 11,000 people OHEL serves. OHEL is a great cause that is very dear to me and my family,” said Ben Englander, co-chair of the event.
Tennis players brought their energy and enthusiasm to the day, as well. A round robin game, which was played in doubles, proved highly competitive. Howard Hershkovich and Michael Pfeifer won first place trophies in the tennis tournament, while second place trophies were given to David Schulman and Judah Hammer.
The evening concluded with the event’s co-chairs being awarded a handsomely engraved corkscrew set with accompanying bottles of Glenlivet 15, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this successful event.
Robert Katz, OHEL’s chief development officer, wished everyone a great summer and encouraged those who will be upstate to stop by Camp Kaylie and see first-hand how this fundraiser helps OHEL’s children. He concluded by asking everyone to “stay tuned” for exciting “big plans” for next year’s outing as OHEL celebrates its 50th year.
For more information or to seek its assistance, please contact OHEL at 1-800-603-OHEL.�
