On Sunday, March 9, the Manhasset Community Fund held a donation ceremony at Manhasset Bay Yacht Club. Each year since 1946, the Community Fund has raised money for distribution to a wide range of programs and organizations to benefit local children, senior citizens, the less advantaged and those with disabilities. After a brief introduction by MCF Co-chairs Thomas O'Malley and Sheila Brennan, representatives of the programs the fund supports spoke briefly about their organizations. FULL STORY

Tuesday's Children, a Manhasset-based non-profit organization, founded by Chris Burke to offer mentoring programs to children who lost a parent on 9/11/01, opened NASDAQ on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003. Presiding over the opening was Chris Burke, a former employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, whose brother Tom was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center, and Robert Shay of Staten Island. FULL STORY

The St. Mary's Varsity Baseball team will be heading to Fort Pierce, FL to play in the Florida coast tournament from March 26 through March 30. FULL STORY

Rich du Moulin, who sailed with the Junior Sailing Program at the Knickerbocker YC, will embark on an adventure that most of us only dream about. On March 16, he and his skipper, Rich Wilson, will set sail from Hong Kong in their 53-foot trimaran Great American II. Their journey will cover the 15,000 - mile China Trade route to New York in pursuit of the record set by the clipper Sea Witch in her 1849 voyage. Now, 154 years later, Great American II will challenge Sea Witch's great record of 74 days 14 hours, and take over 500,000 school children from across the country along with them for the ride. Both men are passionate about sailing and teaching young people about the sport they love. This trip allows these two sailor/educators to pursue their dream and open a new world to the children who will follow their escapades for the next two months. Students will be able to see how math, sciences such as meteorology and oceanography, and even the lessons of history apply in real-time adventure. In a letter written to supporters, du Moulin writes, "Imagine a classroom that no student wants to leave...where learning comes alive with teachers who have access to real-world content and real-world people. Imagine how a raptly engaged classroom of students reinvigorates a teacher. Imagine a parent's satisfaction when their child comes home excited and motivated to learn." During the trip, through a special hybrid newspaper/online Newspaper in Education (NIE), the LA Times, The Hour, Newsday, the Seattle Times will showcase their real-world learning adventures using the curricular materials developed by Rich Wilson's Ocean Challenge. Students can also log onto AOL@SCHOOL to follow the voyage. Wilson has developed a teacher's manual and curriculum designed with lessons for the K-12 age group, which are timed to be taught during the voyage. The curriculum will include teaching related aspects of geography, history, math and science, nutrition, weather forecasting, perseverance, astronomy, goal setting. For more information, visit www.sitesalive.com. For those who would like to learn more about sitesALIVE, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, log onto www.sitesalivefoundation.org FULL STORY