For the fourth consecutive year, the Greentree Foundation has made a substantial grant to the Manhasset Community Fund for distribution to address priority needs facing the people of the Town of North Hempstead. This year's grant of $175,000 brings Greentree Foundation's total donations to the Community Fund over those four years to $650,000.

The Greentree Foundation, established by the late Mrs. John Hay Whitney of Manhasset, founded the "Good Neighbor" grant program at the Manhasset Community Fund in 2003. Since then, almost 50 local groups have benefited from this generous grant program. Manhasset organizations that have received Greentree Good Neighbor Grants include: Adventures in Learning, CASA, Manhasset/Great Neck EOC, Manhasset Basketball AllStars, Science Museum of Long Island, and Senior Citizens Advisory Council of Manhasset.

Last month, to ensure the most effective distribution of this year's funds, the Greentree Foundation and Manhasset Community Fund jointly hosted a Charitable Needs Symposium at the newly completed Whitney Conference Center located at Greentree. This 45,000 square foot state-of-the-art meeting center was completed last spring and is primarily used by the United Nations.

The Needs Symposium gathered community leaders from town and county government, school districts, houses of worship and the executive directors of many charitable agencies providing services to the area. The day's agenda concentrated on identifying the most pressing issues facing North Hempstead's communities and on formulating the most effective methods to address them. The event included both morning and afternoon working sessions and a luncheon featuring remarks by Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Greentree Foundation President Richard Schaffer and Thomas P. O'Malley of the Manhasset Community Fund. The input gained from this event will be used by the Manhasset Community Fund to redefine the programmatic focus areas given preference in this year's grant application process.

All applicants for this year's grant funds must be qualified IRS 501(c)(3) organizations or use a qualified fiscal agent. Guidelines for the submission of proposals may be obtained by calling the Manhasset Community Fund at 627-3850 or by writing to the fund at: PO Box 322, Manhasset, NY 11030. Completed submissions must be postmarked no later than March 31 and awards are expected to be announced by June 30.