East End hospitals receive $11,000 apiece

The Aug. 23 Long Island Wine Classic, the kick-off party for the Hampton Classic Horse Show, raised $33,000 for Eastern Long Island's three hospitals - Central Suffolk, Eastern Long Island and Southampton.

At a recent presentation ceremony, the chief executives from the three hospitals received $11,000 donations from Marco Borghese, president of the Long Island Wine Council, and Dennis Suskind, president of the Hampton Classic, the co-presenters of the event.

Bikers with a cause

More than 750 Harley Davidson riders helped raise $16,000 recently in a 70-mile benefit ride for Melissa Blackford, of Fort Salonga, who was recently diagnosed with a rare form of abdominal cancer.

The ride was sponsored by Indian Motorcycle Long Island and Lighthouse HOG.

For more information, call (631) 724-2400.

$15,000 grant for minority center

Dowling College received a $15,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to augment programs offered at the Center for Minority Teacher Development and Training, which operates at the college's Oakdale and Shirley campuses.

The center is dedicated to attracting minority students from disadvantaged circumstances to become teachers in underserved local school districts. It operates in partnership with The Urban League of Long Island, Adelante of Suffolk County and other organizations that work locally in underserved school districts to identify potential students for the program.

Freedom Center sees 'Lion King' with grant

The Huntington Freedom Center, a childcare center serving low- income working families, received a $1,000 grant from Target Stores to take its pre-kindergarten class to see Disney on Broadway's production of The Lion King.

The 18 pre-kindergarten children will be attending a matinee show on Oct. 29.

WMHO honor firefighters

Long Island's firefighters were saluted during the October's National Fire Safety Month at The Ward Melville Heritage Organization's Firefighters: Then and Now exhibit that was recently held at the WMHO Educational and Cultural Center in Stony Brook.

The event included a visual timeline of 100 years of firefighting history and featured a variety of fire trucks, equipment, artifacts, memorabilia and historic photos from local fire departments, including Stony Brook, St. James, Setauket, Freeport and Port Jefferson.

Other participants included The Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages and the Brookhaven Town Volunteer Firefighters Museum in Ridge.

AHRC holiday cards

Suffolk AHRC is offering the public a chance to purchase greeting cards with four different illustrations for the holiday season.

Members of AHRC designed the cards, which are printed on quality card stock.

All proceeds will go toward AHRC's programs and services.

For more information, or to request a holiday card brochure, call (631) 585-0100.

Jumbo Elliot signs on for breast cancer awareness

The Ronkonkoma Post Office will highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month with an Oct. 18 appearance by John Jumbo Elliot, former offensive lineman for the Jets and Giants. Elliot will be signing autographs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for everyone who purchases a sheet of Breast Cancer Awareness Stamps.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp has raised almost $34 million for breast cancer research. The stamp is priced at 45 cents and is valid for the 37-cent First-Class Mail rate. The extra money goes to breast cancer research.

Family Fun Day

Bankers Life Insurance Co. of New York is hosting Family Fun Day Oct. 25 outside its Woodbury offices from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

All proceeds benefit the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

The event will include games, rock climbing, a train ride, miniature golf, face painting, sand art and live music.

In the past five years, this event has raised $50,000 for the breast cancer group.

For more information, call (516) 390-7517.