Carol Kestenbaum Foundation to celebrate ‘a decade of difference’

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On June 1, the Carol Kestenbaum Foundation, which works to empower youth and prevent suicide, will honor Dr. Gary Morganstern, a lifelong member of the Bellmore-Merrick community, with the Lighting Award.

Carol Fay Kestenbaum was born on Feb. 18, 1987, and murdered by a college roommate’s disturbed ex-boyfriend on her birthday in 2007. Kestenbaum’s friend, Nicole Schiffman, who was visiting her, was also killed by the same young man, who would turn the gun on himself the same night.

Kestenbaum and Schiffman were buried side by side in New York, and the funeral was attended by hundreds who were heartbroken and sick with grief.

According to its founders, the Carol Kestenbaum Foundation came about as a way to help Carol’s memory live on and “do the good that Carol would have done, empowering youth and making the world a better place.”

The foundation supports the Long Island Crisis Center’s suicide prevention program, as well as Project Morry.

Morganstern is president of the Kennedy High School Alumni Association, which he was inspired to create as a way to honor his deceased brother. He organizes and helps run the annual science fair, acts as a mentor for the Senior Experience Program and performs with his band Kamellot. According to foundation members, Morganstern “has spent his life looking back in order to pay it forward.”

Morganstern will be presented with the Lightning Award at the Carol Kestenbaum Foundation’s “The Love Remains the Same” ceremony on June 1 at 7 p.m. at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho. Sponsorship opportunities remain; contact Gina Esposito.. To purchase tickets or make a donation, visit www.carolkestenbaumfoundation.org. Kindly RSVP for the event by May 11 at ckfspecialevents@gmail.com.