Boosting philanthropic strength through numbers

Tom Grech: Malverne/West Hempstead Herald Person of the Year

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It’s often said that the most precious gift you can give is your time, because it can never be replaced.

Now, imagine how precious a gift it is when you can inspire others to follow your lead, generating even greater benefits for the recipients of your charitable work. When you inspire a group, you make a greater impact for the cause — emotionally, spiritually and financially. At the same time, you’re giving the volunteers you rally the satisfaction of making a difference.

That’s the modus operandi for many of the philanthropic efforts of 15-year Malverne resident Thomas Grech, and one of the many reasons why he is the Herald’s 2016 Person of the Year.

Grech, 54, the executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and a native of the borough, is known for spearheading numerous volunteer efforts, either of his own creation or already well established. In 2012, along with other community members and friends, he raised more than $12,000 for victims of Hurricane Sandy, and gave the money to nearly two dozen families affected by the storm. “We used the power of Facebook,” said Grech, who created a page called “Restore, Repair, Renew” and received donations from as far away as Japan. “We got tons of Pampers, water bottles, and all kinds of stuff, too.” The page attracted nearly 500 members, many of whom made contributions.

“Tom is a great community organizer who pulled in two police officers’ wives — myself and Nina Miro — so we could help first responders who were busy helping their communities,” said Malverne resident Lori Lang, who joined Grech for the Hurricane Sandy effort. “As a team, we widened the net and made a huge impact — all because of an idea by Tom!”

Several years ago, when a local real estate agency could no longer financially support a village tradition in which small flags are planted in front of every Malverne house on Memorial Day weekend, Grech rallied other residents for donations to purchase the flags, and with their help — along with local Boy Scouts — got the flags delivered to every home in time.

Last year, Grech coordinated efforts to raise almost $8,000 for a Malverne family that lost their home in an electrical fire. That effort, too, was organized through Facebook and phone calls, he said.

An active volunteer in a number of village organizations, Grech has been a board trustee for the Malverne Public Library since 2007. He was appointed by Mayor Patricia McDonald, who said that Grech is the one to call whenever anything is needed.

“He’s passionate about whatever he’s into, and I think that comes through,” McDonald said. “And because of all Tom does, his family is also community-rooted. If he’s doing something, his wife and kids are there helping also. If you need a list of people who can get a job done, he’s on the top of the list all the time.” Tom and his wife, Janet, have two children, Ashley, 14 and Thomas, 11.

Grech has been a co-coach of the Malverne Catholic Youth Organization girls’ basketball team since 2010, and an assistant coach of the boys’ team since 2013. In 2012, he became a den leader of Cub Scout Pack 24.

Until a year ago, he was a board member of the Nassau Land Trust, a nonprofit that manages, among other properties, Crossroads Farm at Grossmann’s. He is also a past president of the Malverne Civic Association, where he started numerous promotional efforts, including an annual e-cycling event and a Welcome to Malverne binder that is distributed to new residents.

Ashley and Thomas attend the Our Lady of Lourdes school, and he is a board member of the Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation, which provides tuition assistance to hundreds of families whose children attend Catholic elementary schools.

And Grech helped heighten awareness of Malverne’s brown water problem among residents — and New York American Water Company officials — when he started the Facebook page “I love Malverne but hate the brown water” in 2011. At the time, many Malverne residents thought the problem was specific to their own homes, and that they needed to change their water tanks — a solution offered by the water company. Grech pressured its executives to fix the problem by replacing the water mains throughout the village. Since then, as a result of those conversations and his help scheduling public meetings with the company, six of the village’s estimated 26 miles of water mains have been replaced, and New York American Water has pledged to install several thousand feet of new pipe each year.

Residents often see Grech involved in random acts of kindness. Recently, when a Santa Claus scheduled to make an appearance at a friend’s Christmas party canceled, Grech stepped up to don a Santa suit. “It was nice, because I was totally psyched about Christmas because of it,” he said. A friend who saw a photo of Grech in Santa attire asked him if he would dress up again at a school function, and he said yes.

“It’s all a labor of love,” he said of his volunteer efforts. “We’re healthy and happy, and we have to give back because it’s all going back to Malverne.”