By:Nick Buglione
The 25-year East Meadow resident has collected toys for sick children, created a Little League division for disabled kids, and donated food and clothes for the needy through times when he was too weak to walk.
In recognition of his efforts the Town of Hempstead recently bestowed Cook with its 2004 Make a Difference Award. The award is presented annually to 12 individuals who selflessly give of themselves, helping their friends and neighbors.
"I just like helping people," said Cook, a 49-year-old father of three. "I don't look for recognition. I'm a quiet, shy person."
Cook's record of community service stretches far before he was diagnosed with his illness. At 19, he joined the Semantics, a charitable men's organization created about 30 years ago by merchants working in and around Kennedy Airport.
Over a decade ago he was dealt a sobering blow when he learned he had multiple sclerosis.
"When I first came down with it, my body would just go numb," said Cook, noting that his condition deteriorated over time. A disease that impacts the central nervous system, people with multiple sclerosis can experience partial or complete loss of any function that is controlled by, or passes through, the brain or spinal cord.
For that reason, it can cause myriad complications, including muscle weakness, spasms, blindness, loss of balance, depression and memory problems.
Cook said that in the years following his diagnosis there would be days when he couldn't count to three or remember all of children's names.
Coping with the disease took an exacting toll on him emotionally. "I was very depressed," said Cook, now on medication that keeps his multiple sclerosis in check. "It totally floored me."
Though he had owned a successful printing business, Cook could no longer work because of his illness. Still, he remained an active volunteer and his wife speculates that his illness only strengthened his resolve to help others.
"I think basically all this started being sick and realizing that there are people that have it worse than him," his wife Sandi said.
Perhaps Cook's crowning achievement was the creation of the East Meadow Little League Challenger program, which is geared for children with mental and physical disabilities. The children are each partnered with a buddy who helps them run the bases.
A longtime volunteer with the Little League, Cook headed up the effort to create the Challenger division after representatives from District 29, which includes East Meadow, made a presentation on the benefit of such programs.
In the division's first year, only two kids joined. Today, there are over 85 members coming to play from as far away as Flushing to the west and Port Jefferson to the east.
"In the beginning it was like pulling teeth because the parents didn't believe their children could play baseball and we had to show them that their children could," Cook said.
Dominic Tinnerello, a life member of the East Meadow Little League and colleague of Cook's for some 16 years, said his friend deserves all the credit for the Challenger program's success.
"He single-handily put together this Challenger program," Tinnerello said. "He organized it, he got donations and he put everything together."
Every year Cook also organizes a holiday toy drive for the St. Mary's Hospital for Children in Queens. The drive, which begins in September, provides some 1,500 toys for sick children, as well as gifts for their parents and siblings. "That project is my life," Cook said. "I love doing it."
A regular volunteer with the Interfaith Nutrition Network in Hempstead, he collects and donates hats, gloves, scarves and food for the needy.
What's more, Cook has had to devote as much time caring for his family in recent years. In 2002, his son was in a terrible car accident that almost cost him his life, putting him on a long road to recovery. The next year his wife was stricken with ovarian cancer, forcing Cook to become her caretaker.
So when the family received a letter from Kate Murray informing them that the town was looking for nominees for its 2004 Make a Difference Awards, Cook seemed like the perfect candidate.
Once the town received a letter from his wife telling of his selfless acts, they agreed.
Cook received the award in a special ceremony at Hempstead Town Hall on Nov. 16.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
