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Light Rain West Hempstead volunteer 2010 Person of the Year
There's no local volunteer more selfless and caring than Kathleen Dunne
When people talk about 50-year-old West Hempstead resident Kathleen Dunne, they light up. With a glimmer of pride in their voices, they sigh buoyantly and ask themselves where to begin describing the busy mother of three; once they find a place to start, the adulation is boundless.
“She’s always been a very active, vibrant person,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association. Since meeting Dunne, who sits on the association’s executive board, nine years ago, Norton has admired her commitment to civic responsibilities.
“I think she really exemplifies the true spirit of volunteerism that really makes up a large component of the people that live in West Hempstead,” Norton said. “She has gone above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. She’s a constant volunteer who gives her all and never expects to receive any recognition. She just does it because it’s the thing that she feels is right and the thing to do.”
The Herald is proud to name Dunne its 2010 Person of the Year.
As a member of the WHCSA, Dunne, a guidance counselor in the Oceanside School District, helps coordinate rallies in support of the community’s fight against the Courtesy Hotel and works with her colleagues on grant applications, beautification projects, revitalization activities and community outreach.
The Roslyn native, who moved to West Hempstead upon marrying Stephen, her husband of 20 years, also serves as chairwoman of the group’s committee on special events. She’s responsible for organizing the association’s annual summer concert series, Music in Park, the autumn street fair and the Holiday at Hall’s Christmas party for children.
“Kathy is very instrumental in having these things go smooth,” said Marshall Myers, WHCSA’s executive vice president. “[Her work is] important because it gives West Hempstead a sense of identity. We’re not a village, we’re not a city — we’re what officially is known as a hamlet, so it gives the hamlet of West Hempstead a sense of identity that ordinarily you wouldn’t have.”
