Ann and Phil Gribbins of the Floral Park Conservation Society recently received some surprising and well-deserved good news from Diana O'Neill, executive director of the Long Island Volunteer Center: "On behalf of the steering committee and the independent panel of judges, it is my distinct honor to announce that Ann and Phil Gribbins, as founders of the Floral Park Conservation Society Giving Garden, will be inducted into the 2008 Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame for the category of Hunger."

The formal induction ceremony and reception will be held Sunday, Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Carlyle on the Green, Bethpage State Park.

"The Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame celebrates the humanitarian spirit and creates lasting tribute to vision, heart, and determination it takes to address community needs and undertake noble causes," Executive O'Neill noted. "Since tone is set at the top, founders of Long Island nonprofit organizations will again be inducted, the roots you established under exemplary leadership at the Giving Garden created an organization that has made a profound impact on the Long Island Community."

Executive Director O'Neill called the Giving Garden an "interesting and novel nomination" that was unanimously approved by the blue ribbon selection panel.

Ann and Phil Gribbins, along with their family and friends, have developed a Giving Garden in Centennial Gardens in Floral Park that has steadily expanded in providing fresh vegetables for those in need. Last year, the Giving Garden program expanded with the assistance of an Eagle Scout project by Chris Barreyre, who helped with the construction of new, raised growing beds.

A new addition to the program this year encouraged local residents to grow extra vegetables in their own home gardens and deliver them on Saturday mornings to Centennial Gardens for delivery to the poor later that day. The St. John's lacrosse team also recently volunteered at Centennial Gardens and helped expand the number of garden beds available for planting for use during the 2009 growing season.

The Long Island Volunteer Hall of Fame has been in existence since 2001 and it now has a permanent presence at Bethpage State Park where Long Islanders can get a chance to truly appreciate the work of these unsung heroes. Since 2001, 83 inductees have been inducted as hall of famers since its inception. In addition, the Long Island Volunteer Center has its own website, www.livolunteerhalloffame.org, which includes a list of past inductees, judges, program sponsors and organizers, along with the hall of fame's history and future.

The Long Island Volunteer Center has also collaborated with Bethpage State Park to create a home for great humanitarians, by installing benches with inscribed plaques at the Carlyle on the Green clubhouse grounds of the Blue, Green and Yellow golf course tees of Bethpage Park.

An inductee is selected out of 12 different categories of volunteer activity including cultural arts, environment, philanthropy, homelessness, hunger and several other worthwhile endeavors. Some of this year's inductees, along with Ann and Phil Gribbins, include the Floral Park Conservation Society's close friend and neighbor Robert Alvey of the Garden City Bird Sanctuary for the Environment category. Other past hall of fame honorees include Marty Lyons, the former football player for philanthropy through his name sake foundation and Harry Chapin, the much remembered singer, honored through the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

The nomination of Ann and Phil Gribbins as the Giving Garden Committee founders was submitted on behalf of the Floral Park Conservation Society by its pro bono counsel, Dennis McEnery, who informed the selection committee that the Giving Garden this year provided over 1,090 pounds of fresh food to the Interfaith Nutrition Network to help feed local hungry and needy community members. In fact, Interfaith Nutrition Network founders Michael Moran and Patricia O'Connor were among the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees for their leadership in the homelessness category.

The ceremony will be hosted by radio and television weather personality David Weiss and will have a color guard, invocation and brief remarks by the inductees and the event organizers. Immediately following the induction ceremony, friends and family can celebrate at a luncheon buffet reception with entertainment ending by 3 p.m., which is plenty of time for New York Giant and Jet football fans to root for their teams in the Super bowl game that evening.

Those wishing to join the family and friends of Ann and Phil Gribbins at their Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Super Bowl Sunday morning can do so by sending $55 for each ticket payable to the Long Island Volunteer Center to Laura Bissett-Carr, Program and Adult Development Associate, Girl Scouts of Nassau County, 110 Ring Road West, Garden City, NY 11530-3296, 741-2550, ext. 233, or contact her at bissettl@gsnc.org as soon as possible. Any questions please contact Diana O'Neill, Executive Director of the Long Island Volunteer Center at 564-5482 or FPCS President Steve Corbett at 352-5383. Anyone who would like to send congratulations or help with the Giving Garden can let the Gribbins know by emailing agribb02@yahoo.com.