Many of the events and activities that take place in Malverne and West Hempstead are supported and coordinated by nonprofit organizations. But because the coronavirus pandemic has temporarily halted these events, nonprofits find it more challenging to solicit donations and maintain volunteers.
The West Hempstead Community Support Association hosts a number of events throughout the year, including its annual Street Fair, the Holiday at Halls celebration and West Hempstead’s Got Talent. Each year, members also erect flags along Hempstead Avenue for Memorial Day Weekend. WHCSA President-elect Maureen Greenberg said that while the group’s annual membership mailing in January was successful in attracting new members, maintaining that level of support will be difficult in the coming months.
“Maintaining our volunteers and membership is very important, because it’s how we can help the community through our events,” Greenberg said. “All those things take money, and we need the membership to do that.”
The group postponed its March 31 community forum because of the pandemic, but hopes to hold it sometime this summer. Greenberg, who previously served as the group’s treasurer, said that facing this challenge in her first year isn’t easy, but she has managed to do so with support from group members like Rosalie Norton, an executive board member.
“Rosalie has been a great mentor, and she has committed to guiding the people on the board through the process and during this time,” Greenberg said. “It’s a challenging time for all of us, and our hearts go out to everyone that’s lost somebody.”
The Malverne Community Theatre, which has produced theatrical works in the village for more than 50 years, has also seen the adverse effects of the pandemic. The group was forced to postpone its spring concerts, and anticipates having to postpone its summer shows as well. MCT President David Coonan said that while the group’s scheduled shows have been postponed, members brainstormed ways to keep theater alive. Last month, the MCT launched Theatre at Home on all of its social media platforms, in which members read sonnets of their choosing each day.
“It’s a way for us to escape from the terror of this pandemic, and it opened up a different way for us to work and to share the arts,” Coonan said. “Having support at a time like this is immensely important. Not everyone that’s been a part of this lives in Malverne, but they’ve all contributed to us and supported the arts in some way.”
Coonan said that he and the other group leaders had reached out to members and people who contributed to the group over the years in the hope that they would take part in Theatre at Home. He thought people might be reluctant at first, but to his surprise, many jumped on board. Coonan, an English teacher at Howard T. Herber Middle School in Malverne, said that the platform had brought together amateurs and professionals unlike anything else.
“Regardless of your experience in the arts, this has become the great equalizer,” Coonan said of Theatre at Home. “No matter who you are, we’re all stuck at home. We’re able to share this art in a nonjudgmental way, and that’s a beautiful thing.”
“The MCT has a wonderful group of people,” he continued, “and we’re all dedicated to the company, and more importantly, they’re all dedicated to the theater. We’re all just trying to make the best of it.”
