Lions Clubs donate $5K

The West Hempstead, Melville and Rockville Centre Lions Clubs recently gathered to donate $5,000 to Winthrop’s Diabetes Education Center.

The donation was made in honor of Maureen Murphy, MD, an anesthesiologist at Winthrop and a member of the Melville Lions Club who traveled the world with her husband, Al Brandel, while he was the President of the Lions Club International, doing humanitarian work.

Lions Club International has a mission to support efforts to prevent blindness. Knowing that untreated diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S., Lions Club International has recognized the value of diabetes education and prevention.

The funds for the donation were raised by members of the Lions Clubs in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk and Bermuda through the publication of a journal with messages highlighting all of the charitable work Dr. Murphy and her husband did while they were traveling through 50 countries, including areas in Haiti that were hit by the earthquake. The Lions’ donation was matched by a grant from Dr. Murphy’s colleagues at Nassau Anesthesia Associates in Mineola.

“It is significant that the Lions chose to honor Dr. Murphy with a donation to the Winthrop Diabetes Education Center. It underscores not only the Lions’ commitment to their mission and their members but the deep respect they have for the Winthrop Diabetes Education Center’s service to the community,” said Virginia Peragallo-Dittko, RN, executive director of Winthrop’s Diabetes and Obesity Institute. “This donation honoring our Winthrop colleague’s service and the generous matching grant from Nassau Anesthesia Associates is greater than the sum of the parts.”