[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 45 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    A TRIBUTE TO THE STONY BROOK ROTARY CLUB ON ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 22, 1999

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Stony 
Brook Rotary Club, an invaluable community service organization that is 
celebrating its 50th anniversary. For the past half century the Stony 
Brook Rotary Club has lived up to the spirit of Rotary International by 
serving the needs of the children and elderly, and the disadvantaged of 
this Eastern Long Island community.
  The charities and community programs that the members of the Stony 
Brook Rotary Club support have a profound effect on the quality of life 
of so many of my neighbors here on Long Island. In the interest of 
time, I can name but a few, they include the Rotary International 
Student Exchange Program, scholarships for local high school students, 
Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the 
Comsewogue Youth Bureau, Special Olympics to Crime Stoppers and regular 
food drives.
  In its first fifty years of existence, the members of the Stony Brook 
Rotary Club's singular significant service to the community is its 
outstanding work in the Gift of Life Program and the Polio-Plus Drive. 
The Gift of Life Program is a humanitarian effort providing life-saving 
open heart surgery to children from infancy to 21 years of age, with 
many of the children coming from underdeveloped countries where such 
surgery is nonexistent. The Stony Brook Rotary Club contributes its 
time and resources to the care and welfare of these children, and works 
with the World Health Organization to reduce the threat of polio to 
children in Third World countries through the Polio-Plus Drive.
  The Stony Brook Rotary Club was founded in May 1949 when the Port 
Jefferson Rotary Club sponsored the formation of a new club in the 
growing Three Village community. Here on the East End of Long Island, 
just as they do across America, we treasure the close-knit, community 
spirit of our towns and villages, where neighbors help each other 
through times of need. Mr. Speaker, Stony Brook is a community where 
residents are committed to helping those in need, whether it's feeding 
a hungry child, helping a talented student afford a college education 
or caring for an elderly neighbor.
  That is why I ask my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives 
to join me in saluting the Stony Brook Rotary Club on its 50th 
anniversary. For half a century, the Rotary Club has done more than 
just help neighbors who need it, or provide opportunities for their 
children. The Rotary Club has also provided the citizens of Stony Brook 
the opportunity to express their strong love for their community by 
getting involved and by helping their neighbors. Congratulations to the 
Stony Brook Rotary Club, and may it enjoy many more happy anniversaries 
to come.

                          ____________________