As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to nitty-gritty breakdowns of government and school district issues. But some stories are simply inspiring, often showing that at the heart of our communities is a desire to do good. Here are some of the touching headlines from the past seven days.
This week, we're focusing on several locals in our communities who were voted Greatest People of the Year for their contributions to their neighbors.
Westhampton-Hampton Bays
Kym Smith, of East Quogue, is the co-founder of The Hamptons Hurricane Relief Fund, which was created after Hurricane Sandy ripped through the area. With so many people left in need, Smith worked to collect donations filling trucks with food, clothing, cleaning supplies and construction materials to hard hit areas. The group continues to help as noted on its Facebook page.
Southampton
Southampton Hospital President and CEO Robert Chaloner took the helm of the South Fork's sole hospital in 2006 and since then he oversaw a turnaround of the hospital's finances, the remodeling of the emergency room, a new affiliation with Stony Brook University Medical Center, the long-awaited declaration that Southampton Hospital has an agreement in place for building a new state-of-the-art facility to replace its aging Southampton Village home, and record-breaking philanthropic contributions, among other accomplishments, big and small.
Miller Place-Rocky Point
Rebecca Cramer a local businesswoman, volunteer and a 2002 graduate of Miller Place High School, has no problem keeping busy. Along with working as a realtor at Hough & Guidice and owning a promotional marketing company, Cramer and her boyfriend, Brian Carr, decided to step in earlier this year to save Miller Place Printing from shutting down after the longtime owners were looking to retire.
Smithtown
Dave Lewis, among many other things, is a firefighter with the Smithtown Fire Department, an officer with the New York Police Department, Owner of Five Star Pools of Suffolk, and the Co-Director of Camp Adventure for the American Cancer Society.
East Hampton
Tom Field is an advanced emergency medical technician in Amagansett, but also is a first aid, CPR, and EMT instructor — in fact, he's teaching an EMT refresher course in Sag Harbor all day on Sundays. His fire department honored him in 2012 after he reached a milestone. Field has responded to the most calls in the history of the department — a whopping 4,000.
me you got all your toes I was like yes how bout you man. He told me they cut 3 toes off on his right foot awhile back, and next week they are going to take his leg OFF. Another Vet I met about 3 months ago just got back from Iraq in a manual wheel chair with his wife pushing him and him looking like he could turn the place out in a minute. I became friends with him and now even though his LEG WAS BLOWN OFF he is starting to feel better be around his brothers and sisters has made a big difference. We are losing WWII and Korean War and Vietnam folks fast ride by a VA and shake someones hand and thank them and if any of you politicians read this try it might give you a different perspective on America you folks are tearing America apart.. THANKS TO ALL THAT SERVED.