Brian O'Flaherty, Elizabeth Fries are Kiwanians of the Year

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Whether they were serving food at a community pancake breakfast, organizing a holiday food drive or helping coordinate a golf outing for charity, two East Meadow Kiwanis members stood out this year to outgoing President Gary Fromowitz.

Each year, the outgoing president chooses a member to name Kiwanian of the Year, and for the first time in the club’s history, the honor went to two members — Brian O’Flaherty and Elizabeth Fries.

“Becoming president was somewhat daunting,” said Fromowitz, who has been involved with the Kiwanis Club for 15 years and became vice president five years ago.

He recalled not wanting to make the jump to president. When he finally did last year, Fromowitz said, O’Flaherty and Fries “were always there for me every step of the way.” Both were past presidents — and past Kiwanian of the Year honorees.

Whenever Fromowitz hit a roadblock when coordinating an event or needed extra help running the club, O’Flaherty and Fries stepped up. “This year was a really successful year for Kiwanis,” he said, “and it couldn’t have happened without their help.”

The biggest Kiwanis fundraiser each year, run by Borrelli’s Italian Restaurant, is the Steven J. Eisman Memorial Golf Outing. Eisman, a longtime Kiwanian, died at age 61 in November 2015 after a battle with pneumonia. The golf outing, which had been held for roughly 25 years at the time, was renamed in his memory because of his dedication to the community.

This year, the event raised $30,000 and helped send 42 children to Kamp Kiwanis, in Taberg, N.Y., a summer camp for children with disabilities. Last year the outing raised $25,000 and sent 35 children to the camp.

Since their tenure as Kiwanis presidents, “they haven’t stopped working,” said Ivan Launer, the club’s secretary. “Liz and Brian are deeply involved in everything that our club does.”

O’Flaherty, 56, is a 1981 graduate of East Meadow High School. He graduated from Hofstra University with an accounting degree, and is now senior vice president and general manager of Jones Lang LaSalle in Manhattan, where he has worked since 1990. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a trustee on the East Meadow Board of Education from 2003 to 2018.

Despite his busy work schedule, he finds the time to volunteer in his community. “I’m a big believer in community service,” O’Flaherty said. “It’s not one person, Kiwanis. We have a good, solid group of people that are very dedicated. And if they’re dedicated, I’m dedicated.”

O’Flaherty joined Kiwanis in 2005 after meeting Debbie Coates and Debbie Kirsch, whom he volunteered with on the Board of Education. He was the club’s treasurer from 2010 to 2015, secretary in 2012 and president in 2015.

On receiving the Kiwaninan of the Year award, O’Flaherty said, “I’m sharing it with Liz Fries, who’s just as dedicated, if not more. It’s a real honor to share that award with her.”

For Flaherty, the most rewarding Kiwanis efforts are the Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives. Club members collect food outside local grocery stores and then purchase turkeys, chickens and hams before delivering them to local families who might not otherwise have holiday meals.

One memory that O’Flaherty recalled was giving a turkey to a child and hearing him shout, “Look, Mom, I can tell my friends on Monday that I had turkey, too!”

The next Kiwanis project is a collaboration with the Athletes Helping Athletes service clubs at East Meadow and W.T. Clarke high schools. To celebrate Veterans Day next month, East Meadow residents can donate $20 to dedicate a flag to a loved one and have it placed on the lawn of either high school to create a “Field of Honor.”

Flags will be flown from Nov. 2 through Dec. 7, and proceeds will be split among the three clubs and donated to organizations of their choosing. In addition to the program, the Kiwanis is launching its own “Field of Honor” to recognize club members when they die by flying flags on their lawns.