FISH of Wantagh gain new life

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FISH of Wantagh are alive and well.

Friends in Safe Hands, or FISH, of Wantagh had new life breathed into the organization when the Executive Director Paul Desroches appointed recent volunteer, Floyd Earl, as the new director of public relations on August 4.

The volunteer group provides door-to-door free medical transportation service in Wantagh and Bellmore to residents age 60 and over. FISH of Wantagh is one of three surviving FISH operations in the county. The other two locations are in New Hyde Park and Floral Park.

Earl, a long time Wantagh/ Bellmore area resident, began volunteering to drive FISH patients to their appointments some months ago after reading an article about FISH in the Wantagh Herald. Desroches had told the Herald then that at the age of 82 he was ready to retire, as were other officers of the organization. New volunteers were desperately needed to step up — to sink or swim, if you will.

Earl will now be responsible for recruiting phone volunteers and drivers for the organization, according to a release put out by FISH of Wantagh.

“As a result of Floyd’s excellent record of service, he was appointed as Director of Public Relations for FISH of Wantagh,” the group’s release stated.

Martin Sasbon, Assistant Director, said in the release that FISH of Wantagh’s is a non-profit corporation funded in part by Nassau County.

The company’s mission is to “provide Wantagh/Bellmore seniors free medical transportation to their scheduled appointments.”

Earl has been active in the business world since he created a landscaping business in 1956, which grew into a retail and wholesale garden supply company later on, according to Sasbon. Earl owned the Bellmore Feed Company from 1968 to 1988, when he received his real estate license. Earl opened Manor Gate Realty Inc. in 1992 along Jerusalem Ave. in Wantagh, which joined Coldwell Banker in 2007 and became Coldwell Banker Manor Gate.

“He is very proud of the uniqueness of the office, which is a brick Georgian Colonial-residence of a previous farmer,” Sasbon said in the release.

Earl, a full time associate real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, sold his three real estate offices to the brokerage four years ago. He currently holds the following additional positions: Treasurer of Wantagh Kiwanis; member of the Long Island Board of Realtors; member of the Multiple Listing Service, where he serves on a number of committees such as Rules and Procedures, Advertising and Promotions, Legal Assistance, and Professional Standards; and a member of the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce, where he previously served as President, as well as other positions.

“His hours are flexible so he finds time to volunteer,” Sasbon said in the release. “He has been a volunteer for the Cancer Society driving patients for their treatments for several years.”