Retirement gifts with staying power
Endowments, scholarships and
monuments that can cap a career
by Paula Ganzi Licata
Special to Newsday

February 10, 2007

Alice Brown, 76, of Garden City South, retired in October from her post as director of Adelphi University's Child Activity Center.

But her 23-year run in charge there and more than 40-year career in education are far from fading away. She's being honored in brick and mortar with the naming of a new center, the Alice Brown Early Learning Center, with the support of benefactor Amy Hagedorn, who donated $1 million.

Meanwhile, when Anne DuPrey, 60, of Rockville Centre retired in June as executive director of Literacy Nassau, the group established the Anne DuPrey Student of the Year Fund to support the cost of sending a representative student to the Pro-Literacy Worldwide Annual Conference. The honor spoke to DuPrey's passion of promoting literacy, as well as for student representation in the organization.

Not your father's gift

Gold watches and crystal paperweights are becoming less common at retirement parties, and not just because people are spending less time at one job. An emerging alternative to the typical retirement gift is to honor the retiree with a tangible legacy.

The honors come in many forms, such as the establishment of a scholarship or the creation of an award, with the goal of celebrating the retiree's work and often providing ongoing support. Typically, awards and funds are established in honor of an organization's leader as opposed to other staff members, but retiring workers of any level can and have been recognized.

What is the significance of such gifts? Suzy Dalton Sonenberg, executive director of Long Island Community Foundation in Jericho, said she views these gifts as the ultimate way of honoring and recognizing the enormous contributions people have made.

"When Helen McIntyre stepped down as chair of the LICF board in 1998 after 12 years of dedicated and inspirational leadership, we could think of no greater way to honor her than to establish a fund that would support the growth of the LICF by underwriting costs not yet included in the operating budget," said Sonenberg. "Helen's fund is now worth more than half a million dollars, and Helen, who passed away a few years after the establishment of the fund, is forever remembered and associated with the LICF."

These honors speak volumes about the individual honoree. "It's the difference between everybody getting a gold watch after 25 years, it doesn't mean anything," said Rachael Freed, founder of Women's Legacies, an educational group, and author of "Women's Lives, Women's Legacies."

"Very often, it's unsung heroes who either at retirement or late in life somehow get recognized," said Hagedorn. "It's really doubly rewarding for the givers to be able to do this."

As one of Long Island's most active philanthropists, Hagedorn, whose late husband, Horace, co-founded the Miracle-Gro plant food company, comes in contact with many who have left a legacy. "They focus on the needs of others," said Hagedorn. "They have a spiritual bent, and they have a passion."

Honor in retirement

Retirement is a perfect time for honoring someone's legacy, Hagedorn and others said. To determine a suitable honor, givers ensure that the gift is personal and meaningful to the honoree.

"I felt it was very appropriate and a fitting tribute to Alice Brown, an early childhood educator here on Long Island and in a much wider circle, to name the school after her," said Hagedorn, herself a former teacher. "I happen to be in the position to do this naming and it really is very satisfying to me."

The new 8,100-square-foot center on the Adelphi campus in Garden City will accommodate about 80 children and include an art studio, observation rooms and more classrooms. Construction will begin in June, with completion slated for August 2008. Hagedorn's is the lead gift for a $4 million building.

Brown and her staff made good use of the cramped quarters in the small, single-story building that houses the existing center, accommodating about two dozen children. A low row of coat hooks lines the narrow hallway to the kitchen, each spot decorated with a child's name and photo. In the main room, it's not uncommon to see sleeping children curled up on blankets on the floor at nap time, lying next to mini couches or behind the Lego table.

Like many in similar circumstances, Brown was surprised to learn of the dedication. "I was parking my car and the president caught up with me in the parking lot and said, 'I have some news. They're going to name the school after you.' I thought I was going to melt into the floor," Brown said.

"She's a visionary in early childhood," said Robert A. Scott, president of Adelphi.

The naming of a building doesn't always require millions of dollars of new construction. Existing structures often are renamed. When Dr. Salvatore Ambrosino, executive director of the Family and Children's Association, a nonprofit social services agency, retired in 1997, the organization renamed its main building on Jackson Street in Hempstead the Ambrosino Center.

In 2003, professor Peter B. Kahn retired from Stony Brook University and was honored through the naming of the Peter B. Kahn Library of Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy to commemorate his many contributions to the library, as well as his belief in the power of books to transform lives and his generosity to those who studied there.

Why are honors uncommon?

Some wonder why, with many deserving people retiring all the time, more people don't make tribute gifts like these. Diana O'Neill, executive director of the Long Island Volunteer Center in Hempstead, a resource center for volunteerism and community service initiatives, said she thinks it has to do with a lack of awareness of the idea or a sense of how to do it.

However, she said, as the Baby Boom generation, an involved and active group, retires in large numbers, more creative and community-minded ideas will develop. "We all need someone to look up to," said O'Neill. "Most of the time, we are unaware of the heroes in our midst. Legacies are glimpses into lives that made a difference and, by mirroring their example, help us in our own journey."

Legacy gifts are played out in different ways. During DuPrey's leadership of Literacy Nassau, she shaped the organization into one of the largest affiliates of Literacy Volunteers of America and also was active in shaping that organization.

"Anticipating Anne's retirement, the staff and board wanted to honor her in a way that spoke to her accomplishments and her passion," said Tina Sanacore, interim director of Literacy Nassau.

"Thanks to the generosity of friends, family and peers who contributed to the fund, Literacy Nassau was able to send student Johnny Gilchrist to the [Pro-Literacy Worldwide] conference this past October," said Sanacore.

DuPrey said she was overwhelmed by the honor. "The fact that it was directed to students is part of what pleases me most, because that's the heart of our program," said DuPrey, who added that she strongly believed in having a local presence at the national conference, especially a student.

A retiree himself, Gilchrist, 63, of Roosevelt, said he appreciates the significance of the fund. "I think it's great," said Gilchrist, who worked all his life as a machine operator, raising a family and sending his children to college, though he could barely read. "She did so much over the years, helping so many people. She brought me a long way."

Awards and scholarships

Similar to establishing a fund, creating an award in a retiree's name is a way to honor a legacy.

Charlotte Shapiro, 80, had dedicated much of her life to Women on the Job, a not-for-profit organization in Port Washington. When she retired in 2001, the organization established the Charlotte Shapiro Young Leadership Award.

"The Young Leadership Award was especially meaningful to me because of my 16 years of teaching high school social studies in Rockville Centre," Shapiro said. "I valued the classroom relationships I had with my junior and senior students, several of whom became and continue to be my friends today."

Shapiro, who lived in Rockville Centre for 42 years and moved to Southbury, Conn., after she retired, has written extensively on pay equity. Lillian McCormick, who co-founded Women on the Job with Shapiro 25 years ago, praised her colleague's commitment to gender equity and her years of dedication to women's issues.

Women on the Job promotes equal employment rights and the advancement of women in the workplace. The award is given to a woman under the age of 18 who has demonstrated unusual leadership in advancing women's equality.

One award has been given on an annual basis for the past five years. About 35 women apply each year. Applicants are typically interested in women's life experiences and involved in an array of issues, such as breast cancer, date rape, pay equity and mentoring young people at risk.

Jillian Mee, 19, of Massapequa, received a $200 check in 2004 for her paper about a woman's first-hand experience of bootlegging on Long Island during Prohibition and how it affected her life.

"It is an honor," said Mee, "to be given an award which stands for a great deal of struggle in the causes of women's pay equity."

Scholarships are another popular form of retirement recognition. At Hofstra University, family and members of the Hofstra community created the Anne Noonan Drama Scholarship when she retired in 2005 from the Drama Department.

A double-edged legacy

"This is a lasting way to acknowledge a colleague or co-worker and a great way to provide for a student's education," said Alan Kelly, vice president for development at Hofstra University. "As people become more philanthropically savvy, they are finding unique ways to honor and to highlight the accomplishments of friends and colleagues while making sure their name is attached to something that has a lasting impact through scholarships."

Some legacies are self-generated, celebrating careers or a lifetime commitment to volunteer work. Don Mitzner, 66, of Jericho, wanted to honor the work and dedication he and his wife, Gail, provided to Adults and Children with Learning and Development Disabilities (ACLD). When he retired from CBS Cable in 2000, he made a sizable donation to the nonprofit organization they became involved with in 1970, when their son, Alan, was 4.

Mitzner helped to found the Suffolk Chapter of ACLD and was instrumental in its merger with the Nassau Chapter in the 1980s. In June 2004, to commemorate Mitzner's retirement donation, the ACLD named one of its buildings in Melville as the Gail and Don Mitzner Career and Community Services Center.

"In addition to their outstanding volunteerism, the Mitzners provide significant financial support to the organization," said Colleen Crispino, director of development and community relations for ACLD.

Honor on a budget

Not all legacy gifts require sizable funding. A plaque marking a person's accomplishments, placed in a meaningful location with a dedication ceremony, can provide an acknowledgment of a lifetime of work.

Philip Acinapuro, 84, of North Massapequa, was honored in November with the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to his 50 years of service as an educator in the Farmingdale Public Schools. "The plaque is right outside the superintendent's office," said Acinapuro. The plaque also lists the names of all school board trustees in the district's history.

At the ceremony, Acinapuro said he was thinking more about the students than his career. "I thought of all the many boys and girls that had passed through the school under my aegis, many of them have become doctors, lawyers, politicians, pro athletes," said Acinapuro.

Acinapuro, who retired in July 2005, began his career as a reading supervisor in 1956 and moved on to administrative positions and was elected a trustee on the board of education. He also was a founding member of the Farmingdale schools' legislative lobbying committee.

The efforts of those honored with legacy tributes show that you don't need fame and fortune to make a difference, those involved with them say.

If there is any formula, it seems to be a response to a calling and a passion that drives good-hearted, motivated, generous individuals to help others.

Said Alice Brown: "It was the work that called to me and the work that formed the legacy."

Tips for honoring a retiree

If you would like to honor the legacy of someone retiring, those who have done it say the key is to make it personal.

Think about who the person is, what that person values and how the employer valued him or her. By considering these aspects, you will find the most appropriate way to honor the retiree.

Often the organization dictates the type of honor. A local bar association may have a project on the horizon that would provide an opportunity to honor a retiring attorney. For example, the Nassau County Bar Association is in the midst of restoring its Mineola building, so buying and inscribing a brick funds the restoration campaign and provides an opportunity to acknowledge a member of the legal community.

What are the interests of the retiree? For the retiree whose passion is gardening, arrange for the planting of trees in his or her town or favorite park and have a planting ceremony.

If career isn't the focus, , look to their relationships. For instance, if a custodian who helped coach the local baseball team were retiring, Rachael Freed, founder of Women's Legacies, an educational group, suggests perhaps establishing a fund in the custodian's name that will provide tickets to major league games for underprivileged children, or buy uniforms.

Another approach is to contact the retiree's favorite philanthropic organization about an upcoming event or occasion and make a donation in his or her name.

What do these tangible legacies become? Diana O'Neill of the Long Island Volunteer Center said, "They become symbols of a life well spent and signposts for others to ponder their own destinies."


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