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Partly Cloudy A force for change in the community
Kathy Baxley is not only village’s deputy mayor, but a tireless volunteer
It doesn’t take a politician to effectuate change in a community. All it requires is the commitment to roll up your sleeves and help improve other people’s lives.
That is how Kathleen Baxley, who was a schoolteacher for nearly 30 years, first caught the attention of Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray.
“Deputy Mayor Baxley embodies everything good about our great village,” Murray said. “She selflessly gives of her time and energy to benefit all who live and visit Rockville Centre … Her invaluable service to our village makes a positive impact in and around our community. I am proud to not just work alongside her every day, but to call her my friend.”
It is because of Baxley’s unwavering efforts to improve the community that the Herald is proud to name her its 2023 Person of the Year.
Baxley, 59, was appointed deputy mayor in June 2017, following the departure of Nancy Howard, who’s now the village administrator. She came highly recommended for the role because of her work as a volunteer, although she says she never had any intention of getting involved in politics.
“The mayor reached out to me and asked me if I would consider filling in an open seat on the village board,” she recalled. “It never even crossed my mind … but after several weeks of meetings and discussion, I agreed to do it.”
Baxley had served on several PTA boards in the village school district, as well as a number of committees and organizations, including the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, the Breast Cancer Coalition, the RVC Sponsors of the Arts, the No Place for Hate committee at South Side High School and the St. Agnes Parish Gala committee.
She was a Girl Scout troop leader for more than a decade, a Cub Scout den leader for five years, and was instrumental in launching the RVC Moms community Facebook group in 2012, with the goal of helping parents in the school district find recommendations or advice from others online. What began as a small group of parents — 20 moms from the school district — saw its membership skyrocket. Today RVC Moms is nearly 4,000 members strong.
“It has been a very positive group for many people,” Baxley said. “They’re an amazing group of women who help and support each other. Looking at it right now, there are (posts) for toy drives and support drives for rescue animals.”
She recalled that during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, while many people were without power, others were logging into social media for updates on the storm. RVC Moms also played a big role during the coronavirus shutdown. As a way of thanking essential workers, Baxley reached out to James McDonald, the owner of Lost Dog Art and Frame Company, about creating and selling signs in appreciation of their hard work. The signs sold for $20, and all of the proceeds were used to purchase meals for police and firefighters as well as sanitation, health care, utility, postal, and grocery store workers.
Once Baxley shared the idea with RVC Moms, donations poured in. In virtually no time, McDonald had orders for 200 signs, followed by another order for 300 more.
“I like to give back,” Baxley said. “I like to do for others. Everybody in the community has always been so good to me.”
Today, almost seven years since she was appointed to the village board, Baxley is more committed than ever to her volunteer work. She is a board member for four nonprofits in Rockville Centre.
Having twice survived brushes with breast cancer, she greatly values the efforts of the Breast Cancer Coalition to provide support to others battling the disease. Baxley and Laura Altman, who serve as co-vice presidents of outreach for the organization, pair volunteer care counselors with women who have been newly diagnosed.
Erin O’Sullivan and Peg McDonald, co-presidents of the Breast Cancer Coalition, said that Baxley had been part of the organization since it was founded.
“She was pivotal in creating our outreach program, and is an inspiration to all women battling breast cancer,” O’Sullivan and McDonald said in a joint statement. “Her ability to put her heart and soul into our organization and touch so many lives is priceless.”
Baxley is also the director of community relations for the Ryan Patrick O’Shea foundation, which John and Mary O’Shea created after their son, Ryan, a South Side High School graduate and a former captain of the Cyclones basketball team, took his own life in 2019. The foundation raises money for the national Sources of Strength suicide-prevention program, which, on a local level, is used to address mental health concerns at South Side High by providing students with a network of resources and support.
“I’m really proud of the work that they do,” Baxley said of the foundation. “The programs that we’ve brought into the schools are far-reaching.” And it has been such a success that it has expanded to a number of other districts and private schools across the state.
Baxley also serves on the executive board of the Rockville Centre Community Fund, a nonprofit established by the late former Mayor Eugene Murray in 1987 that provides financial assistance to residents in need; and she is an adviser of the RVC Friends of MLK, a nonprofit that supports and expands youth, adult, senior and community programming at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.
Emma Travers, president of the Friends of MLK, said that Baxley has worked tirelessly to raise funds for the organization. “Kathy is more than a leader,” Travers said. “She is a constant source of inspiration and energy who always looks for ways to improve everything she touches.”
Travers added that under Baxley’s leadership, the RVC Friends of MLK has built a library of children’s books by Black authors, added equipment to the community center’s weight room, funded programs such as Sharon’s Squad and Chef Academy, and made the Mad Science program available to kids over the summer break.
Baxley is the village liaison to the Sandel Senior Center — which she affectionately refers to as “the happiest place in New York”— the recreation center, the Chamber of Commerce, the school district, and the MLK Center. She also serves as the village’s community events coordinator, helping organize events including the annual car show and the Music on the Green summer concert series — and still manages to find the time to tutor students part-time.
“I’ve met so many incredible people and made new friends in every facet of what I do,” Baxley said. “I’m a big believer in community … Rockville Centre is a community where people help each other and support each other. It makes it such a special place to live.”
Outside of her work, she said she enjoys traveling with her husband of 28 years, Matthew Baxley, who is recently retired. They have a daughter, Julia, 23, and a son, Matt, 21.
Her plans for the future, Baxley said, focus on continuing to serve the community. “I like making a difference,” she said. “I like helping residents, but I also like helping our employees as well.”
