A Roundtable Conversation With the Leaders of Some of the Region's Nonprofit Organizations

First, tell me a bit about yourself and your charity — your title, how long you’ve been in the position.

LORETTA DAVIS: I have worked for The Retreat for 10 years — how did time pass so quickly! — as the executive director and have loved just about every minute of it.

The Retreat has been serving communities since 1987 and providing services, shelter and prevention education to individuals and families impacted by abuse. I came to this wonderful agency with a legal background and was a town justice for 19 years. I actually relocated for this job and haven’t looked back since.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is a year-round nonprofit in the heart of the Village of Westhampton Beach. Our 425-seat jewel box of a theater welcomes over 30,000 patrons, students and cultural tourists each year to see marquee names in both music and comedy, first-run independent and foreign films, and world-class arts education programs for children, adults and seniors.

I’ve been with the organization since 2008 and became executive director in the fall of 2019.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I was born and raised here in the Village of Southampton. I was assistant to the mayor of Southampton Village and recording secretary for 11 years, and I am the founder and executive director of the Southampton African American Museum (SAAM), which has now been a labor of love for almost 20 years.

TRACY MITCHELL: I’m the executive director of Bay Street Theater, and I’ve been in this role for 17 years … whoa!

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center of the Arts is a year-round nonprofit professional theater and community cultural center that endeavors to innovate, educate, motivate and entertain a diverse community through the performing arts. We serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, a center for new work development, and an ever-expanding home for a community of artists.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: I was previously mayor of the Village of Sag Harbor. In the spring of this year, 2024, I became the executive director of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center. The center has been here in Hampton Bays for the past 24 years and is in existence to rescue, rehab and, hopefully, release injured wild animals, from Manorville to Montauk.

We have a volunteer force of about 125 rescuers in eight zones on the two forks and in eastern Brookhaven. These rescuers help us respond to the thousands and thousands of calls we get, every day, 365 days a year, about animals that have been injured by humans, or vehicles, or by each other, or by the wind or rain.

KRISTIN BURKE: I joined the South Fork Bakery as program director on July 1. Prior to that, I worked with the founder, Shirley Ruch, on a consultant basis, to develop the Launch program.

The bakery has always provided training and education to adults with disabilities, while they perform meaningful work in the bakery. Launch is the extension program that assists these individuals in obtaining and maintaining employment in integrated settings in the community.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: I started [with the South Fork Bakery] in June last year.

JOYCE TUTTLE: I have been president of the Ladies’ Village Improvement Society (LVIS) board since January 2024. The LVIS was formed in 1895 for the purpose of maintaining and preserving historical landmarks and for the maintenance of pond, parks, greens and trees in the Village of East Hampton and vicinity, as well as for the charitable and educational improvement and the advancement of the general welfare of the said Village of East Hampton and vicinity.

LEAH SUÁREZ: I am the grants and communications manager for OLA of Eastern Long Island. I have been with OLA since August 2023, a little over one year.

STEVE LONG: I’m the executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society. I’ve been in position almost three years.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: I am director of the Sag Harbor Historical Museum. I have been involved with the museum for over 20 years, since retiring back to my hometown. I became involved somewhat naturally, being the great-granddaughter of Hannibal French. Hannibal, along with brother Stephen, came late into the whaling business as owners of whaling ships and, later, part-owners of steamships.

I started as a trustee and have served two extended terms as president. This past summer, the trustees decided that we had grown significantly and needed a director. They advertised and, after a period of time, asked if I would fill the position, which I basically had been doing.

APRIL GORNIK: Eric (Fischl) and I co-founded The Church. Its doors were formally opened in April 2021, but we thought about it as co-founders once it came on the market shortly before we purchased it, in the spring of 2018.

How has your job changed over the years?

LORETTA DAVIS: This leadership role has so many parts and just keeps growing as we grow as an agency. We wear many different hats since we never have enough staff.

Once I got to know people in the community that first year, the connections grew. The job changed, because when I go to meetings or events I am meeting with people I know. Our services overlap or complement each other.

The job has changed because I know whom I can rely on and whom I can partner with, and there is more collaboration than ever. This makes the positive outcomes meaningful but also more fun.

STEVE LONG: Even though I started in my current position almost three years ago, it feels like the blink of an eye.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I became executive director right before the pandemic, so my expectation of what it would be changed almost immediately. I would say, in the last five years, it’s changed from survival strategizing to, thankfully, creating a vision for the future.

BRENDA SIMMONS: My “labor of love” has gone from the grass roots of establishing the organization — getting 501 (c)(3) bid contracts, etc. — to focusing on programming and, most importantly, the financial sustainability of the organizations.

TRACY MITCHELL: So much has changed. For example, the technology keeps expanding, so the number of people required on a given production expands.

For example, back when I started, there were very few productions that utilized projections and projection design. Now, it’s nearly a requirement. So much of the day now is way more computer-driven than it ever used to be. That’s a downside where I’m concerned.

So I try to get out as often as possible to do the face-to-face work.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Funnily, I was recently deleting videos from my phone and found videos from 2021 and 2020 of police arrests, and then found videos from this year of hawks and ospreys and geese and mice being released, and was thinking, ‘Wow, has my job changed!’

But, more to the point of your question, a nonprofit executive director job is always one of many, many hats, and while technology has helped that in many ways, it’s also meant more skills are needed to be effective in fundraising and donor management and everything else.

KRISTIN BURKE: When Shirley started the bakery, it was a one-woman show. She did it all, and it all happened at the bakery.

Over the years, the mission grew to include the Launch program. The meaningful employment that the bakery provides for our employees is crucial for so many of them. But it isn’t the end goal now. Meaningful, integrated employment in community businesses is the goal.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: We’re pivoting toward a more holistic approach for the individual, addressing not just employment and employment training but social and residential challenges as well.

JOYCE TUTTLE: I have been a volunteer at LIVS for 22 years, serving on numerous committees and learning about the intricacies of this organization. I was determined to experience many aspects of this complex charitable organization, culminating in election to the board.

LEAH SUÁREZ: My position is a new position for the organization that was created upon the transition of Sandra Dunn to a new role. She was OLA’s associate director and was also managing many of the areas of my current position, including writing and managing grants, and at the helm of much of the organization’s communication. Sandra had been associated with OLA for many years and through many iterations over our 23-year history and is now still involved as a consultant.

I imagine my position will continue to shift and evolve organically as OLA grows and changes.

APRIL GORNIK: It’s fluctuated. I was very hands-on with our first executive director, and that has gradually eased. I put in a tremendous amount of detail work in getting The Church to be functional, and, luckily, my experience with the Sag Harbor Cinema’s buy and rebuild was very helpful in assessing and managing needs (like establishing a not-for-profit, which is called Edge and Center Inc. — ‘The Church’ was taken — getting a board together, clarifying our mission statement, figuring out website and software needs, etc., etc.). I’ve been hands-on since the beginning and am only in the last year or so feeling like I can let go of the reins a little more.

Because we’re different than a lot of other not-for-profits, we have different complications, like the broad range of our programming, for instance.

How has your clientele — the men, women and/or children you serve — changed over the years, and recently? Are the demographics different? What challenges does that bring?

LORETTA DAVIS: We serve all individuals, adults and children, and we have been serving more children/youth and more people in later life, 50 and older. We have more Spanish speakers and more people of color.

One challenge is making sure our staff is bilingual. It’s hard in general to find staff because of the cost of living here, which means many employees travel over an hour to get to work here.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: The demographics have been shifting rapidly in these years since the pandemic. We’ve seen a decline in our elderly population, which previously made up a large swath of our audience; our Baby Boomer audience remains strong, but we have had a huge influx of young people in Westhampton Beach in the summer season.

For years, as long as I’ve been with the organization, we’ve been looking to engage younger audiences. With more comedy and podcasts, we’re finally getting them through the door, which is very exciting for us.

We’ve also seen an increase in audiences of color, for which we credit our cultural partnerships with the Butterfly Effect Project and OLA, along with our Cultural Equity Council.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I’m excited and proud to say we have gone from serving local visitors (men/women, churches, seniors and schools) to spreading the word to visitors coming to SAAM from all parts of the country, even internationally. We had the honor of having top reps from the Smithsonian African National Museum in Washington, D.C., come to tour our museum! And visitors from Japan and the Dutch Netherlands who will be including SAAM in a documentary.

I can’t say that brings, per se, any challenges to me — it’s all good!

Sharing the legacy of the contributions of the Black people who came during the Great Migration in the 1940s and 1950s, escaping the Jim Crow South, is a testament of the tenacity, vigilance and intellect that should be inspiring to everyone! For Emanuel Seymour to have the audacity to come from North Carolina and not only purchase property in “Da Hamptons” but to build an establishment, become an entrepreneur giving others jobs and opportunities to gain independence and wealth. [Seymour’s property later became the home of SAAM.]

TRACY MITCHELL: I’m pleased to say our audiences are expanding — especially as we all learn to produce shows and review everything with a larger perspective that always begins with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), from beginning to end. With that at the forefront, we’ve also made major strides in including our neuro-diverse audience members.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Our first clients are the animals, and the biggest change we have seen is the increase of injuries, most often because of human interaction, as the habitat shrinks and the animals have less room to live in the wild.

Beyond the wild animals, our clientele is anyone who cares about wild animals; it could be a child who finds a bird fallen out of the nest, or a local contractor who finds a nest of squirrels as they are rebuilding a shed, or a second-home owner hitting a deer on Route 27 and wanting to help.

I do believe there’s more attention these days to the plight of our wildlife, so more people respond and want to help. Certainly, our intake numbers go up every year.

KRISTIN BURKE: In the early years of the bakery, most of the employees had been clients of Shirley’s in her Speech and Language practice. Over the years, word has spread about the bakery and its mission, and we now have interns coming to us from local high schools who turn into employees — employees who live over an hour away and utilize public transportation to get to us, and employees who have moved on from working at the bakery to working at other businesses in the community.

Our employees range in age from 18 years old to over 50 years old. They each bring a unique skill set. We work with each employee to tailor their job and ensure that there are meaningful tasks for them to engage in, while continuing to work on skill development.

While each has individual strengths and needs, our employees as a whole share some important characteristics. They work diligently, take pride in their work, show up on time and reliably, volunteer for new tasks, and enjoy spending time with their co-workers.

JOYCE TUTTLE: The LVIS devotes a significant portion of its revenue toward the beautification and preservation of East Hampton, a significant effort is also expended serving the diverse population of the South Fork, its transient workforce and visitors, primarily through the popularity of the LVIS Thrift Shop.

Over the past few years, LVIS has initiated numerous partnerships with community-based organizations. The challenges for LVIS has been the recruitment of members who have the availability to dedicate the hours necessary and the ability to sustain a staffing level due to the cost of living and length of the commute.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Considering that our demographic of service is predominantly the Latino community of the East End of Long Island, we find our core clientele relatively unchanging, though gender, age range and spectrum of needs can vary vastly within a short period of time.

STEVE LONG: Through the efforts of Stacy Myers, our director of education, we have made huge progress in serving students in East Hampton and across the East End. Since a significant number of students — just like me — are “from away,” which is how Jeannette Rattray described people who had arrived recently in East Hampton, learning about the past provides a way for us to feel more rooted and connected within our community.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Our clientele has grown since the pandemic. Because we could not gather at the museum, we relied on online contact. We started doing e-blasts to our membership, and to our great surprise this was received with great interest.

Over the past two years, we have recruited high school students to provide docent tours during our summer season. All of these students have become keenly interested in their village’s history and do an outstanding job.

The demographics are a little different now since we have active board members who live part time in the city, and that, of course, is where Zoom comes into play.

APRIL GORNIK: We generally have an older demographic of professional, mostly accomplished and often retired people, and they’ve been fantastic participants in this adventure. We and our staff learn from them in many cases, and they’re very appreciative of what we do.

We also have younger, middle-aged people, although in smaller numbers, and we encourage Pierson to take advantage of our printmaking workshops with Samuel Havens and also to bring tour groups to exhibitions as part of their curriculum when it’s suitable.

The current “Push Pin Studios Revolution” show is a good example of being able to appeal to a very wide audience, and we try to make exhibitions attractive to any curious person. Our audience varies widely with our programming as well.

What are the challenges of tapping into the year-round community for donations? The cost of living in this region is already such a burden. Do small donations from year-round residents add up to make a difference? Is there truly “enough support to go around”? Have the kinds of donors, or the types of donations, changed in recent years in any way?

LORETTA DAVIS: We have not had great success in tapping into the summer crowds. Our year-round population and second-home community who are involved in the community are the ones who help The Retreat survive, financially.

Every donation counts! They add up, and those donations are meaningful. Some of these donors are also volunteers, or they help spread the word about our services — all free (yes, at least we can eliminate the financial burden).

We love the reliability of small, monthly donations that are a part of our Circle of Hope program. I love this program, because its something that I can count on. I love seeing the names of the donors each month and saying, ‘Thank you, John, Mary, Claudia …’

There is not really enough to go around, as we are asking support from the same donors. The mission has to resonate to the donor. Our work is not glamorous work, but it saves lives, right? So our donors are committed, and we have a loyal family of donors.

We have connected with more family foundations through our outreach, and, hopefully, our reputation and our social media. Many donors are friends of donors, and so word-of-mouth connections have also helped with fundraising and with our cause.

Our Circle of Hope monthly giving has also increased and our teen leaders create their own fundraisers for The Retreat through the Teen Leadership Council.

Also, local establishments and stores have events for us, and since they reach out to their contacts, this broadens our donor base and our supporters.

Donations have also been coming in through our thrift store in Bridgehampton Commons. Individual buy items but also make donations, and stores provide us with some of their inventory, which is amazing. Everyone should definitely check out this store for some new clothes.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: We are very sensitive to the challenges of fundraising from the year-round community — we know what it’s like to live here on nonprofit salaries. (Actually, the overwhelming majority of our staff do not live in the area because it’s so expensive!)

That being said, our year-round donors are so generous — because they really love the theater and don’t take it for granted. We are truly part of the fabric of our community.

While summer sponsorships are vital, so are the smaller donations that come in during our year-end campaign. I had a couple find me in the lobby before a show a couple of weeks ago to hand me their small donation in person, and they told me how much the theater means to them — that donation meant the world to me, because it was so meaningful and mission-affirming!

BRENDA SIMMONS: I first want to say that we have local donors who are supporters of SAAM, so, yes, we are thankful for all donations, which means a lot. But, yes, I will say, we have several larger organizations more fully staffed, and they receive more donations and support, but we all partner and collaborate together, which makes it a very harmonious relationship.

To offset some of the challenges, we seek grants and other resources. But, yes, I cannot neglect to say that hiring has been a challenge for all of our organizations, with the cost of living and lack of affordable living accommodations.

TRACY MITCHELL: Every donation, be it small or large, is a much-needed investment in our work. Unlike some who come out and raise funds during the summer and take their money out of the Hamptons and back to organizations in New York City or other places, the funds we receive stay right here to support our local community.

For example, if our Literature Live production wasn’t supported with donations, we would never be able to afford to ensure that all students could have access to theater at no charge to them. And, for many of them, it’s their first experience in seeing live theater. Who knows what type of spark might be lit?

Or those who may need a scholarship to attend a camp or a class wouldn’t be able to do so without generous donors. Or some 35 other organizations who make use of our facilities at little to no cost wouldn’t be able to do so.

So, yes, every donation is truly important.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: More than 50 percent of our annual donations come from community members in relatively small numbers — $5, $10 $25. They all add up very quickly to be a big part of our budget.

I think often people feel like, ‘Oh, I can’t give much so I won’t give it all’ — but every five dollars really does help! We have a groundhog who eats three heads of romaine lettuce every day. That $5 can buy his meal for a day — and that’s what we need.

We also are lucky enough to be in many of our donors’ planned giving plans. As the U.S. baby boomers age, we will see a huge transfer of wealth. Many of our donors are including the center not only in their wills but also in their IRA disbursement plans, and using donor-advised funds while they are alive. This is, of course, of great value to the center but also to the donor for tax savings.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: I was a co-founder of Bay Street Theater, and when we began in 1992, the common refrain was, ‘There’s not enough money out here to support a professional theater.’ Well … here we are, 32 years later, and not only is Bay Street thriving but in Sag Harbor alone we’ve added The Church and the Sag Harbor Cinema — two substantial, expensive organizations, and they are doing well.

If there is an organized, focused call to action for a demonstrated necessity, the capacity of giving seems to always rise to the level of that need.

JOYCE TUTTLE: LVIS receives varying types of donations to meet its mission. Thus, the generous community can find a way to support us. Messaging is important. Adjustments to who, what, how and how often is critical to not overburdening a donor.

LEAH SUÁREZ: There is always enough to go around, so long as we are reaching those who wholeheartedly believe in what we are doing. Ten $10 donations is equally important to a single $10,000 or $100,000 donation.

STEVE LONG: I don’t see any real challenges to tapping into the year-round community for donations. For example, most of our members at the Historical Society live in the community year round (or most of the year, at least). Those membership demographics are similar to the Children’s Museum of the East End when I was that organization’s president.

Part-time residents of the East End have always played a very large role when it comes to supporting nonprofit organizations. For example, Historic Mulford Farm was preserved in 1948 because three “summer residents,” Percy Ingalls, John N. Cole and H. Jackson Starke, led the effort to raise $30,000 to purchase the property and donate it to the East Hampton Historical Society.

When I first arrived at the Children’s Museum of the East End, someone told me that 80 percent of the financial support for a typical nonprofit on the South Fork came from people who lived here 20 percent of the time.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Donations come in different forms. We have had, over the years, many valuable in-kind donations, in the form of archival research, donations toward house maintenance, donations to our archives, and, most recently, the donation of time and expertise from an archeologist and person who has studied the site of the fort. This is all toward the work we have recently completed at the Old Burying Ground. Preliminary Ground Penetrating Radar confirms existence and location of the British fort, and a report forthcoming will provide additional data: measurements of the parapet wall, perimeter trench, etc.

To the matter of money, we have a membership fee and also an Annual Appeal that helps, as well as donations toward specific projects and the support of our annual fundraiser in the summer. We also receive money from a tax levy of the residents of Sag Harbor through the Sag Harbor School District.

APRIL GORNIK: I really and truly believe that every donation counts, even if it’s modest. You never know for whom a $50 donation is a sacrifice, and I truly appreciate the public’s generosity in all forms — which is another thing I realized that I feel from working on the Cinema’s renovation. I don’t know of a nonprofit that can sustain itself on big or small donations; you want “buy-in” from all people to really have a community-centric enterprise, which is our goal. The public becomes our partners.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “just barely hanging on,” and 10 being “no major worries at all,” how would you rate your organization’s month-to-month financial situation?

LORETTA DAVIS: We look at our cash flow each month, and we hold our breath until we see we can meet our expenses. All costs have gone up — insurance, utilities, rent and the cost of living here — and just the cost of running a nonprofit. There are always unexpected new expenses.

While we rely on government grants, those grants end. There is not always the opportunity to apply again.

Almost half of our income is from donors, events and thrift store revenue. So each January 1, it’s ‘Here we go again. Let us hope our donors are generous. And that we reach new donors in the coming year.’

There are so many unknowns. Donors switch their allegiance, they may no longer live here, they may have new difficult financial issues themselves.

I would say, because I am a hopeful and determined person, that we are at a 7 or 8, most months more a 7, but sometimes we are surprised with a gift and then we are an 8.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: Like any other institution that does the bulk of its business in “season,” we get lean in the winter months — but we’re frugal and smart, so I would say 9. There’s always something to worry about, but we do have an endowment.

BRENDA SIMMONS: Now, I never really thought of this in this way, but I’ll say on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say a 5. As a small, newly formed organization, we are gradually establishing and building a foundation, with a goal to make it stronger and fully sustainable. My ultimate dream is to get a million-dollar donation! It can happen! I believe!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: We have had a few up and down years recently, but at the moment I would say we are somewhere around 7.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: 8 … never enough, of course, especially with our plans moving forward, but the needs of the disabled community for employment, housing and integration with our community is so important and so urgent that the challenge in fundraising for us seems more about getting the word out … the mission and our ability to fulfill the mission does the rest.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Financially, I would say that we maintain our footing at a 5, not extreme on either end of the spectrum. We have worked hard to create a healthy and thriving organization; this includes taking great care of our finances and the systems and people that keep them healthy in order to best serve our community.

The challenge is that while we are not in dire straits, we do rely on consistent support from grants, private donations, generous donors and our community partners to make our work possible. It’s a delicate balance between our programs and services, and fundraising.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Our month-to-month financial situation is better now than ever before. Not to say we couldn’t use more funds. Our plan eventually is to have a part-time archivist and researcher. We are hopeful in the next few years.

STEVE LONG: We certainly keep eagle eyes on our financial situation, but I don’t have any major worries about the East Hampton Historical Society. Since we — like most South Fork nonprofits — rely so heavily on event-based philanthropy, I regularly worry about our fundraising events reaching their income goals, because there are so many things like the weather that are out of our control.

APRIL GORNIK: I’d just say we’re very solid. We get a lot of love, and we try to return it, but I had no doubts we’d be in a situation of having hat-in-hand for the foreseeable future when we started The Church. We don’t have a fairy godmother or godfather, and that’s okay. It’s the way nonprofits work, and you do want people to know that it’s there for them, and that they have agency in its survival, because it’s so true!

How has fundraising changed since the pandemic? Did the lockdown demonstrate other grassroots ways to raise money that have stuck, other than public gatherings? Or are those — such as summer benefits — still a significant source of income?

LORETTA DAVIS: The pandemic highlighted how survivors can be isolated and controlled. The epidemic of abuse was featured in the press. We had virtual gatherings, and more people attended, and we were able to have more celebrities work with us. (Artist Gloria Gaynor sang “I Will Survive” at our virtual gala!) Joy Behar has always supported us and had reruns of when we were on “The View.”

I wish we were less event-centric, but we rely on our events to raise funds. A beautiful benefit that I love about our events is that donors, survivors, staff and volunteers can all be in the same room together. It’s empowering, standing together. Guests love our events, as the events are usually sold out. They are, however, a lot of work.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: Absolutely — the pandemic showed us that people want to give to support the work we do. We have completely abandoned the summer “benefit” model, because our donors want to underwrite the work we do, not the tent company we’re writing a giant check to, or for the port-a-potties! Not to mention the strain on our small staff, and moving marketing dollars away from promoting performances to instead push gala sales.

When we think about fundraising now, we think about low-cost, high-impact: small dinners, a terrific golf tournament with a great honoree, our holiday stroll event.

BRENDA SIMMONS: As I mentioned earlier, seeking alternative outside resources has been the focus, including state and federal resources. Which is generally more difficult to obtain, and lots and lots of challenging and difficult paperwork, and with most state/federal funding we have to spend and provide receipts and invoices to get reimbursed. So if you don’t have the funding/resources … well, what else can I say.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: COVID was an anomaly for nonprofits: Many were very, very lucky that people were home and not spending money and looked to find a charity to support. I know of a number of charities that had their best year ever in 2020, although that no one wants to go through that again!

The summer gala and large event productions for fundraising for the larger nonprofits is never going to go away, especially out here. It’s so much a part of our summer calendar. But I do think it has to continue to evolve.

We stopped doing a formal dinner and just do cocktails; others have gone to different options. I think it’s great — I think people want to do more things in interesting places and with interesting people.

JOYCE TUTTLE: LVIS summer fundraising was affected greatly by the pandemic the first year. Fortunately, the iconic summer fair only missed one year.

LEAH SUÁREZ: The pandemic and its coinciding political swirls surely changed the level of awareness and brought donors’ attention online. Now that we are on the other side of managing our health and its consequences, donors seem thirsty for in-person gatherings.

While the majority of our income comes from direct appeals and grants, a healthy mix of public gatherings and more grassroots efforts inevitably will be a part of our fabric. We look forward to our next “¡Sabor!” event. Now the challenge is to secure a venue during the high season! Anyone? Imagine what we could do together!

STEVE LONG: When the pandemic started, I was at the Children’s Museum of the East End. In March 2020, after the museum shut down, I contacted many of our top donors to urge them to continue to support us. Not surprisingly, they were focused on causes related directly to COVID response and weren’t giving to museums.

At the same time, the museum’s staff realized that a very significant number of our visitors were unemployed because of the pandemic and they didn’t have the financial resources to feed their children. Children can’t learn and play if they’re hungry — so we resolved to start a food pantry, which was a lifesaver for many of our visitors. It also proved to be a lifesaver for the Children’s Museum, because the food pantry became our COVID response, which donors were eager to support. The food pantry continues at the Children’s Museum even today.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: As previously mentioned, through our e-blasts our exposure has grown tremendously. When the pandemic hit, the museum was in the midst of a front lawn flooding problem, with no surplus of funds to fix it. At the same time, we were trying to figure out where we would have some of our events and came up with the idea of taking our large garden away and using the lawn as a gathering place in the spring and summer. We sent an appeal to any who had supported us over a certain dollar amount — and within two weeks got enough funds to solve our issues. I was totally blown away.

APRIL GORNIK: I don’t really know how to answer that. God knows we’ve tried to do benefits that are less rubber chicken and more fun. As for the pandemic, of course, everything was slowed down — it was a crisis! And for us it was frustrating but also gave us time to work out thoughts about how we’d use the space, and we weren’t quite done with building when it began, either. At that time, we were also hoping for donations for a “Founders Wall” to honor people that helped us get off the ground significantly, while knowing that that was an initial boost that would not sustain itself.

Going forward, we are also hoping that people might want to help sponsor some of our programming, whether it involves art, literature, music, science, local history, poetry, dance, or the various workshops we offer and want to expand on. Again, ideally, it’s about keeping the focus on participation rather than just handouts.

Is it challenging competing for dollars on the local level, in the summer season, when there are so many national nonprofits hosting large fundraisers here? How do locally based nonprofits tap into the summer market for support?

LORETTA DAVIS: Yes, its challenging to compete on the local level, but we all go to each other’s events. The comradery is great. It’s more annoying when national agencies that have no connection to the East End have events that conflict with our events and don’t have the same impact on our community that the local nonprofits do.

It’s hard to tap into the summer folks who are here for a short time on vacation mode. We are still trying creative ways to do that. Many summer people still do not know that we are here to provide free services to individuals impacted by abuse and violence, and that our services are free and confidential.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I do think there’s enough to go around, but, yes, there are challenges, especially because we’re in the business of the arts. We’re not saving lives (physical, anyway!) or souls, so we’re at a disadvantage going up against health care or religious charities. Older generations understood the concept of supporting the arts for art’s sake, but I think younger generations are very much focused on crisis giving.

As a result, we’re always trying to educate potential donors on what the arts can do — that our arts education program has a huge impact on young lives in the area, that our 40 performances a year act as an economic engine for our downtown, and that the palpable joy of an audience leaving our theater is worthy of support.

BRENDA SIMMONS: Yes it is, but, again, as mentioned, many of our organizations collaborate, and this has been due to the forming of HANS (Hampton Arts Network), which consists of over 20 local organizations here on the East End purposed to “on purpose” support each other, which has been an awesome blessing, especially during the pandemic!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: It’s always challenging competing for dollars with the BIG charities, but I think our more local charities tend to do more local-feeling programs (like the Polar Plunge, or Moonlight Walks or our Mothers Day plant sale) both in the summer and beyond, bringing our community together and giving us a reason to celebrate.

Anecdotally, this year we had a huge challenge: Our Get Wild Gala was the same day that former President Donald Trump decided to come to town and shut down Route 27 and Main Street and everything else. We lost more than half of our expected attendees, and those who did come often got there two-plus hours late. Thank goodness, everyone who showed up had a great time; the Southampton Arts Center was a good partner, letting us stay late; and, in the end, we had a very successful and fun evening, because we were all in it together, and those supporters who did make it really stepped up to the plate.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: Up until this point, we’ve been able to avoid the summer gala crush and concentrate our fundraisers to the shoulder seasons. Stay tuned … that may change.

JOYCE TUTTLE: LVIS has found great success in moving the event from late July to June.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Absolutely. Though we rely on consistent year-round communication and offerings. The community we serve is not seasonal, and those who live here understand the importance of a vested interest in our work. We are also creative and must be to survive the extremities of our community.

STEVE LONG: I don’t think that fundraising on the local level is a zero sum game. The philanthropic potential in this community is enormous. The challenge is how to convince donors to prioritize East Hampton (and specifically the East Hampton Historical Society) with their philanthropy as opposed to giving to communities like New York City or Florida, where they also live.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: As far as the challenge of competing with the larger museums and big-money events, we have a policy of keeping our fundraising to an affordable level to include everyone.

APRIL GORNIK: Yes, of course! We all have to do fundraising, but it’s all good. There’s room for everybody. It’s a big place.

Does being in “The Hamptons” help you or hurt you in terms of both fundraising and identity?

LORETTA DAVIS: You know that each community has its own identity, and we do not like to be grouped together in the myth of “The Hamptons”! We do not benefit from this misconception that “nothing like this happens in paradise.”

The other myth is that The Retreat must be loaded because we have a wealthy community that supports our services. We struggle to raise funds each year, just like all the other nonprofits out here.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I think sometimes when we’re completing grant applications that are being reviewed by panels that don’t understand the intricacies of the area, especially Westhampton Beach, it can hurt us. But, certainly, having access to donors with means is extremely helpful.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I must say, for years it had definitely hurt being established in “The Hamptons.” I recall that requesting funding was extremely challenging because of the exclusionary false mindset that if you’re in “Da Hamptons,” why on earth are you asking for money? Along with the unfortunate fact that: 1. ‘What, there are Black people in the Hamptons?’ and 2. One of the main reason we formed HANS was to change the narrative that the Hamptons has a extraordinary, artistic, thriving environment here — it’s not just our beautiful beaches and swanky high-end restaurants and private clubs.

TRACY MITCHELL: There is this misguided notion that many granters believe that because we’re located in the Hamptons that we don’t need funds, or that we don’t serve a population that requires assistance or low-cost opportunities. And that’s simply not the case. And if an organization doesn’t own its own space or have a really long-term lease, many funders will not even allow the organization to apply for grants.

Then there are the folks who say things like, ‘Well, this is my second home, and I do my giving in the city.” Or the ones who say, ‘Can’t you just go to Spielberg, or Martha Stewart, or Billy Joel? Why don’t they give you big checks?’ In each of these examples, it can be very difficult to get people to understand the myths about living in the Hamptons.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Because we do cover from Manorville out to Montauk, we are a little bit more than just the Hamptons, but certainly our being here and the very wealthy summer people being aware of us when they have an animal emergency has helped our fundraising dramatically.

Also, while many wildlife centers are in more rural areas, or at least in the countryside, where the community might be more familiar year round with wildlife, we find in the summer that there are people who have never seen a groundhog or an owl or a woodpecker. This actually helps us with the opportunity for education and just the pure wonder and excitement of discovery.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: When our founder, Shirley Rich, created SFB, she chose to call it South Fork Bakery, not The Hamptons Bakery. It was a very clear message that the bakery was a grass-roots, community-based organization with a clear sense of place — not a quality of lifestyle.

JOYCE TUTTLE: LVIS’s mission is East Hampton and community; therefore, the location is essential.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Both/and. For those who do not live here, it is challenging for them to understand that 1. there is a larger Latino community here; and 2. that this community is a uniquely vulnerable one.

For those who do live in The Hamptons, there’s a definite mix between those who understand our unique challenges and embrace the mission and work, and those who are unaware of the realities of their own community.

STEVE LONG: I never use the term “The Hamptons” to describe where I live and work. I prefer “East End” or “South Fork.”

When people are not very familiar with the area, they assume there are no problems or concerns in “The Hamptons” (other than perhaps getting a reservation at a top-notch restaurant). I’ve gone to museum conferences where people have assumed my organization has no fundraising challenges because I’m in “The Hamptons.” When I apply for grants, I often start by explaining that the local community isn’t what is typically presented in the press or media.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Being in The Hamptons is definitely an asset.

APRIL GORNIK: Oh, I don’t know. Helps, I think — we have made community front and center since we began, and we hold on to that, so it’s not just about being some kind of “Art Institution East” for bored Manhattanites in the summer. Plus, it’s about creativity first and foremost, not just fine art, per se.

I really prefer the name “East End” to “Hamptons.”

How do you choose board members, and what is expected of them? Are they mostly volunteer positions? Are board members tasked with fundraising duties? Are they sources of service and volunteer labor? Or are they more advisory?

LORETTA DAVIS: We have a nominating committee to elect board directors, composed of current board members. Board directors are tasked with the financial oversight of the agency, and they are also great fundraisers.

All board directors are volunteers, and they are required to provide a yearly give-or-get amount. A number of our board directors are former volunteers.

Meeting so many people in the community, I would make recommendations to the board about potential new directors, and many of those recommendations were accepted, but ultimately it is a board decision.

We can only survive financially with a strong, engaged, diverse board. We are lucky to have such an active board. Board directors help us with marketing, legal issues, film production, financial oversight and more, based on their area of expertise.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: Our board is made up of individuals who represent a variety of fields — law, real estate, building, philanthropy, business. They are all volunteer, and are trusted advisors — they are tasked with helping us fundraise. This comes in the form of their own generosity to the theater, but also in the form of introductions to their friends, neighbors and colleagues in the area.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I must honestly say, that has been one of my personal challenges. My expectations would be someone who sincerely believed in the organization and would either be a financial contributor and/or make a sincere effort to help obtain financial donors. Most are volunteers, and I would hope they would/could serve in an advisory capacity with the best interests and ability, in accordance to the organization’s mission and goals. Not “self-serving,” which can be detrimental and harmful to any organization.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Our board is very much a group of dedicated wildlife advocates who spend many hours donating their time and funds to the benefit of the Rescue Center. The majority are active rescue volunteers. They also help with fundraising by getting friends and families to come to events and drumming up auction items. etc.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: Every board is different. At SFB, our trustees are very involved, not so much in the day-to-day but in the overall direction of the organization and its governance. A major part of their role is fundraising, and an important part of raising money is raising awareness of the SFB mission and challenges that the community we serve face.

JOYCE TUTTLE: All board positions are volunteer. An elected nominating committee recommends officers and directors to the general membership. Elections occur annually.

LVIS is made up of over 30 working committees overseen by a chairperson. All board members also serve on committees. The members and volunteers of LVIS dedicate thousands of hours annually. The board sets policy but is not directly tasked with fundraising, although most board members participate as members of fundraising committees.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Board members are volunteer positions, and each member offers their commitment of time, talent and treasure, empowering the leadership of our executive director, Minerva Perez. Their advisement is critical to the function of the organization.

STEVE LONG: While I certainly have plenty of input, the Historical Society’s nominating committee is responsible for selecting board members. They are all volunteers. Because the board has primary fiduciary responsibility for the organization, I think it’s very important to recruit trustees with capacity to support the organization financially. It’s an old saw in nonprofit governance, but trustees are supposed to provide the three “T’s”: time, talent and treasure.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Our choosing the candidates for board positions is done by a nominating committee. They receive names and then interview the candidates and give them an in-depth interview finding the candidates’ points of interest and talent, and explaining the museum’s expectations and goals. We are very much a working board.

APRIL GORNIK: We have both “give” and “get” board members, so they include people from whom we want advice, and from some of whom we hope for money, and some generously provide both, but we honor and recognize their generosity of time and interest first and foremost. We’d like to expand our board at this point.

How can groups differentiate the work they do from similar nonprofits? Also, how can groups with similar missions align their work? Should nonprofits be working collaboratively more? How can that collaboration be fostered? Has the nature of communication and cooperation among nonprofit organizations changed in recent years?

LORETTA DAVIS: We provide prevention education programs in the schools, police departments and hospitals. We also provide legal services, counseling kids as young as 4 years old, and, to adults, shelter, case management, job and housing placement, and financial literacy.

We love to collaborate and work with over 40 other nonprofits. We must. We are not all experts in everything. Our clients need more services than we can provide.

Collaboration is the answer. For example, we are proudly a part of the East End Fund for Children, with six other local agencies that help children and youth thrive. We share our services, make referrals and work together. It’s really a great partnership.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: In the years since COVID, I have been so grateful for the Hamptons Arts Network, which is made up of East End arts institutions. Just sharing information and challenges once a month has been so helpful. We are all so unique that there is just support, no competitiveness.

BRENDA SIMMONS: Again, I’m proud to say that the forming of HANS has been a collaboration that words cannot express. This group has and is a collaboration that has sincerely worked hard to be there for each other and had utilized our collective power to actually change a few rules, giving us the attention and respect from local government officials.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: We collaborate with other wildlife organizations on both the East End and throughout the country. Locally, we work with SOFO, Quogue Wildlife and the Turtle Rescue, and the Group for the East End to support each other’s events and rescue/rehab work.

The more we work together to educate the community, the better it is for all. My hope is to continue this collaboration and up our game of working together in the future.

KRISTIN BURKE: It is important for nonprofits with similar missions to align their work. Historically, services for adults with disabilities have operated in silos.

As employers, we are concerned with the overall well-being of our employees. For them to be successful, productive employees, they need to have security — security in housing, security in benefits, security in transportation. They often also have medical and social needs that can be difficult to navigate without a support system.

The sharing of information between the agencies and organizations that support individuals with disabilities and their families can be very impactful.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: … And that networking between like-minded organizations will be a pillar in SFB’s mission going forward.

JOYCE TUTTLE: Collaboration is key to maximize success for the local community service organizations. LVIS participates in an East Hampton networking group that brings together common missioned nonprofits. LVIS partners with several local charitable and health organizations.

LEAH SUÁREZ: I believe it’s paramount to stay focused on who we serve and stay true to our core mission. Every nonprofit organization has its own identity and unique group of stakeholders. Collaboration is important, and that begins with respect and acknowledgment. It continues with conversation, dialogue, and ally-ship. Trust is the root of collaboration and when in alignment can be a powerful force.

While communication and cooperation are key ingredients, they can be the biggest barriers to collaborative work, especially in recent years. The pandemic has left us with an even greater divide between us all, with the enforcement that there is not enough to go around. At OLA, we believe there is plenty of resource and everyone has their role in gaining access and fostering healthy collaborations. How can we work together — non-profit public charity, private sector business and individual, and government — to create new ways of rising the tide. A rising tide lifts all boats.

STEVE LONG: In recent years, local nonprofits in the arts and culture field have created networks to help promote cooperation and communication. For example, the East Hampton Historical Society is member of the East Hampton Cultural Network and the Hamptons Art Network.

When I started at the Historical Society, I found there was already quite a bit of collaboration. Through our stewardship of the Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran Home and Studio, we’re members of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (HAHS), which is a network of sites across the nation created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since East Hampton has more HAHS sites than any other township in America, it functions as both a local and national network.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: Groups can differentiate the work they do simply by what they represent. The Whaling Museum has the task of educating about the village’s star role as a large whaling port. The Historical Museum has the job to share any and all local Sag Harbor history.

Yes, I would like to see nonprofits working together when appropriate and certainly support and publicize each other’s events. Case in point, SHHM hosted a meeting last week with the other museums, Bay Street, the Cinema and The Church to brainstorm the commemoration of Meigs Raid in May 1777. We need to work together, although we as the history museum will more than likely have the lead in this historic event.

APRIL GORNIK: We have started and have continued to promote collaboration with other orgs out here. We reached out to other institutions to let them know we were starting The Church from the beginning. I think it’s very important. We like to do joint events, and have, and the HAN network is also here to foster a cooperative, collaborative spirit, which is great.

Sheri Pasquarella has been a spectacular executive director for us and had the first public meeting of HAN at The Church to make sure the public knows it’s there. The forum was a wonderful success. So I think the communication and cooperation has improved in recent years, and just as we want to partner with the public, we want to partner with other orgs.

One of our first collaborations — maybe the first? — was having Marit Molin and Hamptons Community Outreach use The Church in July for their Art Camp for kids, and it remains one of the best things we could have done, just for the joy of seeing the kids create in The Church. I think we inherited good energy from the kids’ Rainbow School that was there when it was an actual Methodist Church!

How does your organization fill in gaps in government services? Do you think you get adequate support from local governments?

LORETTA DAVIS: We seek funding from federal, state, county and local governments, and we are thankful for the support and for the competitive grant awards that we seek, with some success, each year.

The support from the Town of East Hampton has been very strong, and our involvement with the town has increased significantly. Riverhead has also been very supportive. We also get funding from Southampton, and all these contributions help to cover our services.

Our impact, demonstrated by our data, on individuals and families in our communities, is very persuasive for more funding. When individual lives are saved, when people can work again and kids are living in a safe, healthy relationship, home environment, the entire community benefits.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: We have been very fortunate to have widespread support from New York State, the Assembly, legislature, county, town, and, of course, the village. We are more than adequately supported by programs supported by local government.

BRENDA SIMMONS: SAAM fills the gap of being the first African American site to be historically designated in the Village of Southampton and the first Black barbershop to be transformed into a museum in the country.

The uniqueness of having a Black museum in “The Hamptons” has drawn many from as far as California and Kentucky who come stay in hotels and economically enhance our area. We get some support from local government, but I must say it’s definitely not enough, and that’s been a constant struggle, not necessary for SAAM but for the Pyrrhus Concer site, which had been an over-10-year-long fight.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Our center is based in a Suffolk County park, and the county and Parks Department are wonderful partners.

We also work very closely with some of the towns’ animal control departments and the local police for rescues. Our plan is to use the relatively quiet winter months to work with local police forces about best practices for animal rescues so we can continue to help animals as quickly and effectively as possible. The local governments have been very cooperative in making this happen.

KRISTIN BURKE: The training and support that we provide to our employees goes above and beyond what they receive from government programs. The ongoing support, training, placement and monitoring of performance is much more in-depth than is offered through government services available to this population. Those services play a vital role for many but often don’t go far enough to help our employees improve their skills, maintain steady employment, and feel secure over time.

Geography also plays a role in the services available to our employees from government agencies. From what I have observed, it can be difficult for some agencies to find employees to fill various roles, such as direct support professionals, for the rate of pay they can offer and the amount of unpaid travel required to access clients in the Hamptons.

JOYCE TUTTLE: LVIS expends over $300,000 annually for the benefit of the East Hampton Village taxpayer. We also give out nearly $200,000 a year to local students and women returning to college.

LEAH SUÁREZ: We must maintain a healthy stream of income from individual donations and private foundations. There is a tremendous gap in what the local government (and even state and federal) can cover to accommodate our needs. We are constantly seeking new streams of revenue to fill that gap.

STEVE LONG: We work very collaboratively with both the Town and Village of East Hampton, and the Historical Society has received funding from all levels of government. Would I like even more? Of course!

APRIL GORNIK: In my work on the board of the Sag Harbor Partnership, the administration now running the Village of Sag Harbor has been fantastic, as well as the town supervisors and Town Council of the Town of Southampton for the last 10 years or so. The Partnership is something I believe in because we want to try to collaborate with public servants.

I’m also very psyched about renovating the Firehouse Museum, around the corner from us. Steinbeck Park was also a great example of governmental support through Southampton Town; ditto the Cinema, through its amazing Community Preservation Fund, which was key to having enough funds to close the “buy” on the building and move us into the future.

Here’s to Fred Thiele, without whom we wouldn’t have the great CPF! Its stewards are critical to so much preservation of land, history and community itself out here, especially now that the idea has expanded to establish the Community Housing Fund.

Why did you choose public service as a career?

LORETTA DAVIS: It was a natural choice. I have always been interested in women’s issues. I worked at a college, at a publishing house, for the federal government, on Wall Street, as a local judge and always volunteered for women focused nonprofits. So after private and government work, working for nonprofits with a legal degree seemed liked the best fit for me, where I could have the greatest impact.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I steadfastly believe in the transformative power of the arts — I know firsthand the effect arts education can have on a child, and the effect the arts as a whole can have on a person’s character and how they move in the world. I never saw myself doing anything else!

BRENDA SIMMONS: Simple answer: Sometimes public service “chooses” you, and it’s an “assignment.” Period.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: I was in advertising in New York City for the majority of my career. When I moved out to Sag Harbor full time, I was very lucky that I could translate my experience to work with nonprofits and village government.

Just as in advertising, every day at a nonprofit is different, with a need for creative answers to solve issues like fundraising, issues education and basic communication.

KRISTIN BURKE: I didn’t choose it — it chose me.

Over the years, as my students and clients entered adult life, I began to see that many weren’t equipped to meet the challenges of post-secondary education, employment and independent living. I became interested in those later-teen years, the transition years, and the skills and attitudes that help ensure future success.

I spent the last five years as a transition specialist on a New York State Education Department Office of Special Education grant. My role was to provide professional development to special educators across Long Island on how to support students in their final years of high school.

I learned a lot about the agencies and programs that can support adults with disabilities. I saw where the gaps in those supports are and realized that filling those gaps in the short term would require the kind of creative thinking that can be difficult outside of the nonprofit world. (In the long term, I think the way these agencies and other organizations communicate and share information needs to be improved.)

STEPHEN HAMILTON: We started Bay Street Theater as actors, directors and producers looking to make professional opportunity for ourselves, and a not-for-profit organization seemed like the best way to achieve that. It wasn’t until we were in the thick of it that we realized how important the arts were to the lives and health of a community. Catering to our own creative desires quickly morphed into a deeper sense of service both to the East End and to the theater industry at large.

JOYCE TUTTLE: I have always worked in not-for-profit and educational settings. In retirement, I chose to throw myself in to the work of this wonderful organization. Volunteerism and giving back is in my DNA.

LEAH SUÁREZ: It is one of the most fulfilling of any. I am able to use my gifts and unique skill set for good, well beyond what I could do as one person. It’s heart-filling and equal parts healthy challenge.

STEVE LONG: I have always loved going to museums. As a 7-, 8- and 9-year- old, I remember vividly visiting the Air and Space Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, Plimoth Plantation and Independence Hall. I love learning history, because it gives me a sense of place and connectedness. Working at a history museum combines those two passions.

APRIL GORNIK: Ha ha — I’m actually an artist! I have regular shows in my gallery in New York City. But I don’t mind being mistaken for a public servant!

Tell me a story about something that happened recently that made you feel good about the work you, and your organization, do.

LORETTA DAVIS: One of our survivors explained our work as helping all the individuals whose names we cannot mention, whose photos we cannot show, who are alive today because of the work we do. That is pretty powerful and makes me proud. Proud of the brave and resilient survivors, and proud of our dedicated staff.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: A couple of weeks ago, we hosted the Butterfly Action Group, a group of six Black teens learning about activism for a panel discussion on their recent trip through the deep South and what it meant to them. Five of the six had taken acting classes here at WHBPAC, and the way they held themselves on stage and commanded the room was so incredible.

We always talk about how theater can be used for social good, and to see it live in front of my eyes was so special.

Additionally, the Butterfly Effect Project founder and executive director spoke from the heart about the theater, saying that we always work with integrity and walk the walk of inclusivity — we don’t just talk about it or check boxes. That means everything to me and the WHBPAC staff.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I think one of my most rewarding is the many students who come to visit and learn about not only all the contributions Black people made in “The Hamptons” (working with local schools to include in their “Local History”), but also the phenomenal contributions and amazing determination, overcoming the odds, and discovering the fact that it was Black people who primarily helped build the financial foundation of this country.

But I must mention on a very positive note that I’m thankful that SAAM has in the past few years established a wonderful ongoing relationship with the Southampton School District, and we already have been in conversation for our 2025 collaboration.

Just last week, we had a middle school group come from Connecticut! We had a couple purposely book a tour to SAAM to celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. To my surprise, they came not only dressed in beautiful cultural attire but also brought a broom, and we had a traditional “Jump the Broom” ceremony!

SAAM has also focused on giving young Black artists a chance to showcase their talents. Okay, last one: A young lady reached out to me from North Carolina … long story short, we wanted to get her and her writing venture out to the Hamptons, because she was writing a fictional book/movie about a Black woman born in the Hamptons, and she said during her research while at the Bridgehampton Library she shared the topic with one of the librarians, and she told her, ‘You must contact Brenda Simmons.’ So, after a two-hour conversation, she asked if I would eventually be on the set when she produces the movie.

So much more, but I’ll stop!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: This summer, we rescued an osprey hanging upside down, tangled in fishing wire, from a nest in Three Mile Harbor. The rescue was a joint effort of the caller, one of our volunteers and the East Hampton Marine Patrol, as the nest was actually on an offshore piling.

The bird was brought to the center, examined and treated, tested for its flight capability, and was able to be released about a week later. The same volunteer and caller were on hand for the release. To see the bird fly away was so emotional and wonderful.

We have been working since that release with various other groups and media to try to get fishermen to be more aware of the dangers of leaving their lines and lures behind. We also hope to do an audit and cleaning of the osprey nests to remove monofilaments and other debris while the birds are south for the winter.

That one rescue, being so dramatic, may in the long run help hundreds of birds going forward.

STEPHEN HAMILTON: A month after I began my tenure as executive director of SFB, I was hauling a bundle of fundraising letters to the post office in Sag Harbor. As I began stuffing the letters into the first class slot, a little boy with Down syndrome, about 4 or 5 years old, appeared, peeking at me around the door of the vestibule. I could hear his mom chirping in the background, keeping him close.

I knelt before him and asked for his help. For the next five minutes, I handed the letters to him, and he silently placed them one by one into the slot, as his young mom stood by and watched.

When we were finished, we bumped fists, and as he turned to leave, his mom whispered her thanks. I replied, “No … I thank you.” And they were gone. The message was so clear …

JOYCE TUTTLE: There are so many day-to-day happenings. Weekly, we have the East Hampton High School “school-to-work” students who come assist with tasks — they learn from us, and we learn from them. Watching their joy in helping us is such a reward.

Today, we had a disabled senior shop in our thrift shop. She was overjoyed with her bargains and the kindness of our staff.

A volunteer found a phone and wallet. The owner was overjoyed with the honesty.

These simple things happen every day and bring joy to many.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Witnessing the lives literally changed overnight after a long process in our complex path to immigration is infinitely rewarding and gives me great hope for our country. To know that OLA’s Immigration Legal Services makes that possible is invaluable.

STEVE LONG: Not long ago, I had the opportunity to lead a tour of Mulford Farm — which is one of the six sites managed by the Historical Society — for my son’s class at John M. Marshall Elementary School. After the field trip, his teacher asked the students, including my son, to complete a worksheet reflecting on what they had learned during their visit.

All the students brought their worksheets home, so I got a chance to see what my son had written. While I was very happy to see that his responses reflected the learning objectives I had endeavored to present, what made me feel especially great was his response when asked to describe his favorite part of the field trip.

He said: “Seeing my dad.”

APRIL GORNIK: Well, the Push Pin Studios show that’s up now has had tremendous resonance. I and Myrna Davis, who’s the wife of one of the artists in the show and who worked at Push Pin in the 1960s, co-curated it. I believe it’s brought a lot of joy to the public and reinforced our message that creativity can be found in more places than museums, and that Sag Harbor has been a tremendous cultural contributor, with Paul Davis, James McMullan and Reynold Ruffins, all part of the Push Pin Studios having lived here and having done extremely significant work here. Spreading the word, and education in this form, is a joy.

How often do you hear positive comments from the people you serve? How often do you hear criticism?

LORETTA DAVIS: This is the amazing thing: Despite all the challenges that survivors have, they make it. They survive on their own and become independent living sustainable lives. We had three survivors speak at our event, and you can watch the video on our website. They made it — and they inspire us.

They also thank us and want to share their stories so that others know they are not alone and know there is help.

As the executive director, of course, I get some complaints, too. Sometimes this is from a client, or someone we could not serve, or from a donor. It’s not that often, but we take the complaints seriously and do our own investigation.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I love to stand in the lobby before each show, and after, as people are leaving. I hear it all! But I treasure the real relationships that I and my team have with our patrons and students. I would say we hear a lot more positive than criticism — but, of course, the criticism is what keeps me up at night!

BRENDA SIMMONS: Definitely, the positive comments outweigh the criticism. The most criticism has been that they wish we were open more often. Which — we are working on our first hire. But I must give a shout out to my two amazing interns, Kim and Kellen, who are off to college!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: We are very fortunate that so many people have brought us animals over the years and feel that we have been helpful. Rarely a day goes by with us getting a thank you message, sometimes with a donation.

But there are days when we don’t have a volunteer who can go quickly to save an animal, or when we cannot accept an animal because we are at capacity, or we don’t answer the phone right away (in summer months we get between 300 and 500 calls daily), and we see bad reviews online. With the growth of Facebook and neighborhood sites, bad news often travels faster than good.

It’s very hurtful to our young and dedicated staff to see these negative comments, and we do try to address as many as possible. I wish that folks would reach out directly rather than posting, but that doesn’t always happen.

KRISTIN BURKE: Our employees truly love coming to work. Last week, I decided to ask employees to complete a short questionnaire gauging their job satisfaction. Their responses were wonderful — comments about enjoying specific tasks, spending time with their co-workers, pride in the products that they produce, earning their paychecks, and getting out of the house.

They were also asked to name areas where the bakery could improve. Those comments mostly referred to things like wanting to work more hours or wishing to learn additional tasks. So, it’s not criticism, really, but hints at the direction in which we need to move. We need to build bigger. We need more wholesale accounts so that we can expand our hours, continue with skill development, and support our employees in securing additional work hours — either at the bakery or at other businesses in the community.

JOYCE TUTTLE: Both every day. It is important to be grateful for the compliments and learn from the criticism.

LEAH SUÁREZ: Every day, we are gifted with nuggets of positivity from the community we serve and in working with our community partners.

STEVE LONG: All the time! I find it wonderful that so many members of the community feel deeply invested in East Hampton history, and they are very comfortable sharing both positive comments and constructive criticism.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: In the past few years, with our increased visibility, we have been receiving compliments on our events and exhibits, which is a great change from the public being confused as to who and what we are.

APRIL GORNIK: We get gratitude for making The Church all the time — people are very thoughtfully appreciative of its impact, and it’s tremendously gratifying. There are a lot of very smart people here who mention how happy they are that The Church exists, how it’s expanded their world.

And we’ve had occasional criticism from neighbors who have complained that programs are sometimes too loud, which we have tried to respond to with immediacy. We end events very early now, except for a few rare exceptions. But really very few criticisms.

If you could ask the community for one thing you don’t currently have for your organization, what would it be?

LORETTA DAVIS: What we could use is more beds for survivors. There are only 52 beds for families impacted by abuse in Suffolk County, and we desperately need more.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I don’t think there’s anything glaring — but I would just say, continued support. Please continue to spread the word about the work that we do, take a moment to learn about everything we have to offer. We hear from so many people in our lives — Oh, you had so-and-so?’ ‘I didn’t know you have School Day Performances for kids!’ Please, pop in and say hi, we’ll give you a tour and we’ll tell you all about us!

BRENDA SIMMONS: I guess, to be honest, continued financial support. And I must say, I thank The Express News Group for their continued support covering our events. And for this opportunity — for always giving the community “a voice.”

TRACY MITCHELL: A space in which to build Bay Street Theater a permanent home. And some workforce and artist housing!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: We will be starting a building fund for an education building in 2025. This large space will allow us to have schools, camps and community educational visits to the center year round. We will also house more education animals in the building and a permanent exhibit about Long Island Wildlife, and how people can help keep wild habitats intact in their yards and re-nest disturbed babies in the spring and summer

KRISTIN BURKE: We currently run our organization out of two locations: our office in Sag Harbor, and the wholesale bakery in Amagansett. My dream is to have it all in one location that includes a storefront where we would open a retail bakery. That would allow us to work on further skill development and serve a larger number of adults with disabilities in our community.

JOYCE TUTTLE: More committed volunteers.

LEAH SUÁREZ: A home. While we have a small office, we would love to be able to host year-round programming and offer services in a place that is designated for OLA and our East End Latino community-at-large. We envision a place that is vibrant, creative, safe, welcoming and alive! Exactly like our diverse Latino community!

STEVE LONG: I’d be especially grateful for help increasing accessibility at the East Hampton Historical Society. Just with our historical tours, for example, it would be wonderful to present them in Spanish for members of our community learning English, or to be able to offer assisted listening devices for tour visitors who are hard of hearing.

APRIL GORNIK: I guess I’d ask more sponsorship of specific events, like I mentioned before, from those who can afford it.

Is your organization in need of volunteer help — and if so, how would someone reach out to volunteer? What would be the requirements to do so? How many hours a week?

LORETTA DAVIS: We could not do our work without our volunteers. Call us, 631-329-4398, about volunteer opportunities. We need committed and reliable volunteers in all different capacities, and a few hours a week is great!

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: We have a very strong volunteer corps, but we are always looking for more — especially younger volunteers who might enjoy sitting through some of our raunchier comedians or podcasts, ha! We hold volunteer trainings in the spring — people can get in touch with our fabulous director of sales and volunteer services, Allison Frost, at allisonf@whbpac.org to find out more!

BRENDA SIMMONS: We could use volunteers during our annual Juneteenth event — volunteers to just be there so we could have more open hours. I would ask that you send me an email at Bsimmons@saamuseum.org. Let me know how you would like to volunteer.

APRIL GORNIK: Anyone interested in volunteering can write to info@thechurchsagharbor.org and mention what they’d like to do. We don’t have set hours of volunteer service.

I mentioned Sheri Pasquarella and how invaluable she is, but I also want to give a shout out to our extraordinary staff! They’re so talented and committed, and we’re deeply grateful to them.

TRACY MITCHELL: Yes, Bay Street Theater always needs more volunteers — whether for seating ticket-holders, or assisting in the office with special projects, or calling campaigns.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: We can always use more volunteers! We hold rescue classes for general rescues and deer-specific rescues throughout the year. We also have need for volunteers in our hospital in the spring and summer, and to help with events like our Mothers Day Plant sale or our Get Wild! Gala. Volunteer forms and class scheduled are on our website at www.wildliferescuecenter.org.

KRISTIN BURKE: We love volunteers! Our biggest need for volunteers is for markets and festivals, where volunteers work alongside our employees, representing the bakery and selling items to customers. Last summer, we were in six farmers markets a week between Thursdays and Sundays. We simply don’t have enough supervisory staff to make this work without volunteers.

For these positions, requirements include the ability to lift and move up to 50 pounds and transport supplies to and from the events. These events are typically three to four hours per week from spring through early fall. We also have some volunteers help out in the kitchen during the holiday season.

Anyone interested should email info@southforkbakery.org.

JOYCE TUTTLE: Contact us. Fill out an online or in-person application. Meet with a membership committee rep. There are specific requirements to fulfill: 25 hours minimum in shops and other committee work (there are 30 to choose from) for 10-plus hours in a year to become a member of LVIS. One can also just volunteer. We look for consistency, not necessarily a weekly time commitment.

LEAH SUÁREZ: We are always grateful to have volunteer support! Because of the nature of our work, we ask that interested volunteers reach out to us directly to be able to be best assigned. An enormous need is in bilingual (Spanish-English) and bicultural support. Requirements and hours vary. Please connect with us and let’s find ways that you can be involved!

STEVE LONG: We are always eager to have more volunteers join us! The great thing about volunteering at the East Hampton Historical Society is that we have a project that matches whatever the volunteer’s interest might be, such as marketing, event planning, research and education. Plus, the hours can be flexible so it fits the volunteer’s needs. Prospective volunteers can inquire by emailing info@easthamptonhistory.org.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: We are always in need of specific professional help. Anyone who has experience with research and archives we would love to talk to.

What is something you’d like the public to know about your organization that it doesn’t already know?

LORETTA DAVIS: We serve all individuals, regardless of gender identity or preference, immigration status, and we do not discriminate. Abuse does not discrimination either and happens in every community every day.

We also have a great team to work with as we provide these services. As a mentor once said, the world is a mess but we are not.

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: While we know that ticket prices are always a topic of conversation and many times frustration, we are only 425 seats, presenting world-class talent. And, even so, ticket sales and tuition cover less than half of what it takes to keep our curtain up! Running a theatre has become so expensive in the years since the pandemic, with inflation, insurance and artists trying to recoup what they lost during the pandemic. Please know that no gift is too small to help us move forward.

BRENDA SIMMONS: I’m not sure if the public knows that we have an amazing digital tapestry augmented virtual reality app that you must come to experience!

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: This year to date, we have rescued over 2,500 animals, representing 300 different species, and fielded over 11,000 phone calls! Our phones are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and our volunteers go out in the middle of the night, or on a holiday or in a storm, to help the wildlife of the East End.

KRISTIN BURKE: We’re hoping to develop a network of agencies and organizations who work with adults with disabilities on the East End of Long Island. Sharing information and resources is so important — especially in a place with the unique challenges we face in the Hamptons. Housing, transportation, lack of social outlets, and accessibility of supports can be challenging here. The more we talk about it and share our ideas and resources, the better able we are to support our employees.

JOYCE TUTTLE: That we are a local treasure. It is always surprising to find that such an old and revered organization is still unknown to many in the region.

LEAH SUÁREZ: We are a small and mighty team doing big things and making great change in our East End community. While I think many know of OLA, I would love to see our community-at-large truly embrace OLA’s work by witnessing firsthand the difference we are making.

STEVE LONG: I’m not sure everyone is aware of the variety of work we do. The East Hampton Historical Society stewards six historic sites located in Amagansett and East Hampton Village, manages a collection of nearly 20,000 artifacts, presents hundreds of school programs, curates a variety of exhibits, and offers tours, lectures, and other programs throughout the year.

NANCY FRENCH ACHENBACH: I am not sure that the public knows that Nancy Boyd Willey, the daughter of Annie Cooper Boyd, left the house to us in 1998. Nancy retired back to the house after separating from her husband and living and working in New York City. She later came back to Sag Harbor and worked diligently on preserving and archiving all her mother’s papers, photographs and over 600 pieces of art work created by Annie. A portion of our large collection of clothing was originally worn by Annie Cooper Boyd, as our present exhibit displays.

APRIL GORNIK: That when we’re open, you can come in and see an exhibition for free during our regular hours! I still see people pulling out wallets when they walk in sometimes.

We want to emphasize how friendly we really are. And I hope everyone knows about how truly diverse the programming is.

Any other thoughts on the challenges of running a nonprofit on the South Fork in 2024?

JULIENNE PENZA-BOONE: I think I said it all!

BRENDA SIMMONS: I will close by again saying thank you to everyone who has supported the Southampton African American Museum, and please continue to support us — and if you haven’t come by, what the heck you waiting for? Thank you for an amazing summer; we will be temporarily closed but please check our website for our Special Black History program.

KATHLEEN MULCAHY: Our community is lucky to have so many wonderful nonprofits available to help and support when they are needed, and the nonprofits staff and boards are just as lucky to live and work in a generous and passionate community so we can continue the work we do.

JOYCE TUTTLE: The South Fork is unique. Therefore, there is no textbook method of process. LVIS is fortunate to have such diversity in its membership. Our yearbook contains women who have varied life and professional experiences, locally and internationally. Bringing the ideas and enthusiasm together cohesively is what I, along with the board and committee chairs, strive to do.

LEAH SUÁREZ: While our challenges may be unique, we are not alone. May we find ways to support each other to be the best for our South Fork and East End community.