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Lynbrook diners donate to help vets

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The walls of the Lynbrook Diner, the landmark eatery located in the shadows of the village’s Long Island Rail Road station, echoed louder than usual last week as they hosted their second “dine to donate” event, this time to benefit the Disabled American Veterans. A few months ago, hungry trick-or-treaters and families feasted on Halloween to raise money as part of breast cancer awareness month. Each night, the diner donated a percentage of its proceeds to those causes, leading to hundreds of dollars in donations.

Both events were efforts of the diner’s owner, Nick Mavromihalis, and his daughter Peggy Kostakis, a mother and educational worker from Cold Spring Harbor. She said she spent much of her time growing up at the diner, and is glad to be working in Lynbrook again.

“Growing up, I always came here. I helped out wherever I was needed, I was a hostess, a cashier, a waitress, whatever we needed that night,” she said. “Now, my kids are older and I’m glad to be back helping again. ”

She also said she is proud of it’s place in Lynbrook history, and wants to give back to a community that she says has given her family plenty to be thankful for.

“Since I’ve come back, I’ve helped to kind of update the diner and bring it to the 21st century after the renovations, brought us back in time a little” Kostakis said, referring to the 1950’s décor installed after the diner was victim of a fire in 2014. “I also really wanted to start hosting community-focused events. The diner has a great place in Lynbrook’s history, it’s been here for decades, and we owe so much to the community. I wanted to give back to that community that gave us so much.”

The first event was held on the final day of October, breast cancer awareness month, and employees donned pink clothes to help spread the word.

“We definitely saw an uptick in business,” Kostakis said. “I think people really appreciated the sentiment of what we were doing. Lynbrook is a great place. It really still does have that small town feel and people care about their town, and I think that’s why this place has survived for so long and why these events were a success.”

Mavromihalis has owned the diner, standing on the same plot at 401Sunrise Highway for over eight decades, since 1985. He, too, is proud of the diner’s historical place in what he described as a special community.

“I love doing my business here,” he said. “Our customers really are members of their community, and I’m glad to be a part of that same community. I’m glad we can give to them what he can give to us.” Kostakis said she has plans to expand her “dine to donate” events to more local organizations in the new year.

“We do have a few more events like this in the works,” she explained. “We already do a lot with schools nearby, we always sponsor events at the high school, send food to them when they’re having dinners. We’d like to have another way to give back to students in our community. We’ve discussed having a Lynbrook High School night, where we would donate the proceeds to the school.”

Ultimately, Kostakis believes events like these are good for everyone involved. She said she hopes to help continue what has been a warm and productive relationship between Lynbrook and it’s diner.

“To me, giving back to this community like this is the greatest gift we can give to our community because it really is a win-win, because so much good comes from events like these,” she said. “Its great for us, because we see more diners in our restaurant and hopefully help build relationships with new customers. The community is able to gather together at a place they know not only wants their business, but wants to serve the needs of their community. And it obviously is great for the causes we are able to promote and donate to.”