Leading the effort to lend a hand

Though lifelong Five Towns resident Steven Spiro is the new president of Five Towns Community Chest, there is nothing new about his extensive record of public service.

“Some in the community grew up as country-club kids and others as private-school kids,” said Spiro, 54, of Woodmere, who was named president at Community Chest’s annual meeting in the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library’s Gold Hall on Jan. 31. “I grew up as a community-service kid.”

From a young age, Steven saw the involvement of his father, Elliot, and mother, Marion, who’s known as Pigeon, with the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the United Jewish Appeal, among other organizations. Elliot Spiro was a founding member of the Woodmere-based Tempo Group, which cares for those with mental issues and substance-abuse problems, is a longtime Community Chest board member and for many years was a board member of the New York District of Kiwanis International. He also served as N.Y. Kiwanis’s district governor.

“So you can absolutely say that my parents taught me by the examples that they set,” said Steven, “which is what my wife, Debbie, and I do with our children.” The Spiros are both Lawrence High School alumni. Debbie is an assistant vice president of Nassau Community College, in charge of the school’s online programs. They have three sons: Brian, Robbie and Jordan.

Community Chest helps other groups and individuals who are in financial need. Spiro first got involved with the group in his early 20s, when its executive director at the time, Bill Kimball, asked him to serve on a long-range planning committee. He became a board member nearly 15 years ago, and was very active on the group’s Fair Committee. Community Chest holds an annual two-day fair in Cedarhurst.

He remembers the days when the image of a red feather quill was displayed on homes and businesses, recognizing their contributions to Community Chest. Spiro said he hopes to recapture the feeling of those times, when people weren’t shy about showing that they had contributed, and to mount an awareness campaign to call attention to the needs of Five Towns community members.