Fundraiser to save American Legion hall is set for Oct. 5

After hearing about the efforts of East Meadow American Legion Post 1082 to raise enough funds to renovate its building, community activist Eileen Napolitano sought to lend a hand. With the help of community leaders and businesses, she will be hosting a fundraiser on Oct. 5 at Public House 106 in East Meadow at 6 p.m.

“The community and the businesses have really stepped up,” Napolitano said. “I hope everyone attends Friday because that’s when we’re gonna raise the most money.”

The American Legion meets in a building on Bellmore Road that has stayed relatively in the same condition since it was built in 1891. In its basement, logs act as support beams, holding up a rustic wooden ceiling. A door that leads to the backyard no longer closes all the way, and the basement often floods when it rains. A leaky roof causes additional damage during severe storms.

“Something that I learned along the way about these veterans was that they had to use whatever funds they had,” Napolitano said. “I don’t want them to be in a situation where they are struggling for money to pay for oil this winter.”

Connelly & Sons Plumbing in East Meadow has recently agreed to donate its services to fix the post’s plumbing issues with materials donated by Ace Hardware in Hicksville.

Post members have called the building their home since 1935, and later shared it with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2736 and the Nassau County Police American Legion. Despite its condition, the building is the only remaining veterans hall in East Meadow. Post members are currently raising funds to renovate it, and set up a GoFundMe page in May that raised $715 of its $35,000 goal by July. By press time on Oct. 2, however, that number had jumped to $2,065.

There are 106 life members of the post, most of whom are older than 70, Carbonare said. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census, between 2012 and 2016, there were 1,854 veterans living in East Meadow.

When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the South Shore nearly six years ago, the post became a warming center for community members who were without heat or electricity. Residents have also rented the post for christenings, charity events and other special occasions.

Napolitano also reached out to the Town of Hempstead to secure the building as a historical site, which could secure additional funding to maintain the building.

“I feel local veterans are not cared for in the matter that they should be,” Napolitano said, adding that she read about the post’s struggles in an article in the East Meadow Herald called “Preserving a home for vets in East Meadow,” published on Aug. 2.

She immediately wanted to help using her experience in social media advocacy and fundraising. “I didn’t think that it would become this big for me, but it has and I will always be there for them.”