LONG ISLAND COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

SIERRA CLUB EVENT JUNE 6 IN GREAT NECK

CONTACT: L.I. Sierra Club Publicity Manager Dominique Mendez at 631-886-1895,
L.I. Sierra Club Chairperson Frank Morris at 516-410-8461

Eleven New Yorkers to be Honored for Environmental Dedication by Atlantic Chapter (NYS) Sierra Club Gathering acknowledges how all sectors of American society now embrace green movement.

Great Neck – The Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club will hold its first ever environmental awards dinner at the Inn at Great Neck on the evening of Saturday, June 6 to honor a diverse group of New Yorkers for their environment efforts, including keynote speaker State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The dinner and ceremony, which starts at 7, will be preceded by a cocktail hour and art show, with sales benefiting the Sierra Club. “We are at a tipping point in the movement and we felt it was time to acknowledge the individual efforts not only of our stalwart volunteers, but also of members of the religious, student, business, and political communities, all united in their efforts to protect the environment,” noted Frank Morris, Long Island Sierra Club Chairperson.

This event brings together people from diverse sectors of our society who are currently addressing environmental issues on various fronts. According to many Sierran’s, the movement has evolved from one that was driven for years primarily by green organizations, like their own, to one embraced by Americans from nearly every walk of life who acknowledge their stake and participate in their own ways. The keynote speaker and recipient of the top award is New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, whose office has spearheaded green initiatives includes a Green Strategic Investment Program that commits $500 million in state pension funds for clean technology investments. “Investing and promoting sustainable, energy efficient government and business is not only good for the environment, it will create new jobs through the state while reducing the cost of operations for government as well as business,” said DiNapoli. The theme of the awards dinner is “Green Jobs for New York State.”

Also honored at the event will be the Reverend Tom Goodhue, Executive Director of the Long Island Council of Churches; author and SUNY Old Westbury Prof. Karl Grossman; Executive Director of LI Green, Chuck Schwartz; and young nvironmentalist and Port Washington seventh grader, Michaela Gawley. The Sierra Club is America’s oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with 1.3 million members nationwide and chapters in all 50 states along with Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Since 1892 the Sierra Club has been working to explore, enjoy and protect communities, wild places and the planet itself.