Great Neck United Community Fund (UCF) President Richard A. Arenella has named longtime Great Neck resident Linda Marshak to the position of UCF executive director. Ms. Marshak, her husband and two children have resided on the peninsula for 21 years.

Ms. Marshak, who officially came on board at the UCF on Jan. 26, brings to her new position a business background as well as administrative and marketing expertise. She first became aware of the vacancy at UCF from an article in the Great Neck Record, which she reads avidly.

"This was a good time in my life to give back to the community," stated Ms. Marshak. "I decided UCF is an ideal place to satisfy my interest in giving back, and to challenge my administrative and marketing experience. At the same time, I would like to bring the UCF organization into the new millennium, administratively, and to help it grow financially."

She is hoping to draw more volunteers to UCF to help build the infrastructure to achieve these goals. "In my short time here, I recognize the need for additional volunteers, particularly people with administrative and computer skills, including data entry. Of course, we would love to hear from anyone who wants to offer services or expertise in other ways, as well."

Mr. Arenella commented on Ms. Marshak's qualifications and her selection by the UCF: ''Linda's background includes being a successful parent and homemaker, and an accomplished business person. She will bring to the position of executive director compassion, new ideas, sound business principles and the ability to accomplish the complex tasks of her new position. The search committee, consisting of Muriel Turk, Pat Meyersfield, Norm Meyer and Mina Aibel, interviewed many qualified applicants. They were unanimous in their decision to recommend Linda Marshak to be our new executive director."

Ms. Marshak has already been made to feel welcome by everyone in the UCF family. "The support of Richard Arenella, the UCF staff, the board and our wonderful volunteers has been fabulous,'' she said, '' and I look forward to working with all of them closely."

Ms. Marshak's professional background, to which she recently added a Juris Doctor degree with an Elderlaw concentration from City University School of Law, includes presenting Home Care Fair Hearings opposing New York City cutbacks in home care services under the auspices of the New York Legal Assistance Group. In addition to authoring the first guardianship manual to be utilized by laypersons under the Mental Hygiene Law of New York State under the auspices of Brookdale Center on Aging, she has served as a Child Abuse Prevention Services educator and a North Shore Child and Family Guidance fund-raiser. She holds a B.S. degree from Hunter College, from which she graduated magna cum laude.

Her overall goals for the UCF are "to make every family in Great Neck a part of the organization - because they contribute money or they benefit from member agency services, and/or they volunteer their time and energy."

The 18 member agencies supported by UCF are the Boy Scouts, CLASP Children's Center, Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, COPAY, EOC, Friends of Hospice, Girl Scouts, Great Neck Senior Center, Great Neck Student Aid Fund, Great Neck Visiting Nurse Association, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, North Shore University Hospital, Salvation Army, Sara's Center, The Rehabilitation Institute, United Cerebral Palsy-Nassau, USO of Metropolitan NY, and Womanspace.

UCF's member agencies provide health, companionship, counseling, rehabilitation, and shelter services to the entire community. And the entire community--UCF volunteers, local merchants, the public schools, entertainers, government officials, and community residents--is involved in presenting this very important evening.

For further information, call the Great Neck United Community Fund office at 482-8101.