Among the highlights of the Feb. 18 meeting of the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC) was the presentation of substantial checks to three most worthy beneficiaries of the successful 2002 Ho Ho Ho Holiday Run - the Bretton Bowl Fund for the needy families of Bethpage, the Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education and Long Island Track & Field. Ho Ho Ho Run Co-Directors Joe Sturgess and Bob Sherman made the presentations.

The Bretton Bowl Fund is a grass roots charity organized by the Bethpage Chamber of Commerce and Bethpage Police Athletic League to take care of needy local families and, since the Ho Ho Ho Run utilizes the Bethpage community as its venue, it is especially appropriate that the club "give something back" to that community in this way, and the club has been doing so for 15 years.

The Maurer Foundation is a Long Island-based organization that hosts outreach programs to educate women of all ages (with a special emphasis on middle and high school young women) about breast health and breast cancer detection in particular.

Finally, it is especially important that the club also "give back" to the sport, and the donation to Long Island Track & Field goes a long way to help foster LITF's Long Distance Running Program