Working closely with New York State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro, the Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame will now have a permanent home at Bethpage State Park (host of the U.S. Open 2002 and 2009) in Farmingdale, New York. To commemorate inductees, benches with inscribed plaques were installed at the Carlyle on the Green clubhouse grounds and Blue, Green, and Yellow golf course tees.

On Sunday, Feb. 5, the 2005 induction ceremony and reception was held at Carlyle on the Green, Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale. Radio personality David Weiss was the ceremony's emcee.

This year's inductees included: Children and Youth Services - Carol Carter, Patti Kelly Barker and Tamara Pelosi, Sunshine Center; Cultural Arts - Boris Chartan, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of NC; Education - Mother Anselma Ruth, Molloy College; Environment - Sallie Ruppert, Volunteers for Wildlife; Family Support - the Honorable Hope Zimmerman, Hicksville Mothers' Center; Health - Heather Buggee, Splashes of Hope; Mental Health - Irving Berkowitz, Federation of Organizations; Hunger - Syd Mandelbaum, Rock and Wrap it Up!; Homelessness - Peter Barnett, Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless, Philanthropy - Marty Lyons, The Marty Lyons Foundation; Seniors - Paul Arfin, the Community Programs Center of Long Island; Special Needs - Al Eskanazy, Ascent: A School for Individuals with Autism; Lifetime Achievement Award in Volunteerism - Marc Blitstein, ARHC-Suffolk Chapter and Thomas Cruso, United Way of Long Island.

In addition, a bench in honor of 2003 inductee Harry Chapin, founder of Long Island Cares - The Harry Chapin Food Bank, was unveiled.

Corporate and foundation underwriting for the Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame has been provided by Rauch Foundation and Verizon. For more information contact the Long Island Volunteer Center at 516-564-5482 or www.livolunteerhalloffame.org.