The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Carol Montana

HARRIS – In spite of four days of snow, snow and more snow, volunteers turned out in force for the 32nd annual WSUL / WVOS Heart-a-thon, held at the garden level food court at Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Harris, NY.

On this 32nd year of the Heart-a-thon, the planning committee decided to honor longtime volunteer David Kaufman. Although receiving a standing ovation as he entered the food court with his wife Shirley, the former supervisor of the Town of Thompson was typically humble. “I’m not sure what this is all about. I suppose I’ve been attending these for 32 years. I was at the first one and … I’m out of words, I don’t know what to say, other than I’m greatly honored, and I’m sure there are many people out there who have given as much or more. But this is truly an honor for me and I’m very, very pleased. I’m a past chair of the event. I served most of those years on the executive committee. I was the regional president of the American Heart Association. I hope I have the opportunity to continue to do this for more years.”

General Manager of WSUL / WVOS, Helena Manzione has been working on the event for more than 20 years. She explained the theory behind not setting a monetary goal for the event. “You can set a goal and totally knock yourself out, and for one reason or another not achieve it. But it doesn’t minimize the effort of the volunteers, the people who donate. Because circumstances make things different. Now we’re in a very bad economy. If I was to set a goal, I wouldn’t want the people who count on us to be disappointed. So anything that we have is more than we had if we didn’t do the event. I don’t think it’s necessary to put that kind of pressure on people when they’re working as hard as they can work, and getting as much as they can get.”

Manzione also talked about the evolution of the event. In the beginning, 100% of the proceeds went to the American Heart Association (AHA). Then 10% went to the hospital and 90% to the AHA, and in later years, the split was 50-50. “… and then we said ‘We need it here,’ said Manzione. With the Heart Association, some goes for research. This way it goes 100% to serve Sullivan County. I made that decision when Watermark Communications bought WSUL, and then we bought WVOS. So once we had those stations under our umbrella, we decided we needed to change this. We got so much support.” So now 100% of the funds collected goes to the Cardio Pulmonary Department of CRMC.

Throughout the years of the Heart-a-thon, Manzione explained, the young people of the community have become more and more involved. “They’ve sold the cardboard hearts all over,” said Manzione, “sold them at basketball games to raise money. It’s given them a sense of community that will take them into the future. We’ve had girl scouts, Fallsburg school students, and they challenged Liberty and then Monticello.” As Manzione spoke, a group of young nursing students from BOCES took blood pressure readings in the corner of the room. 

An astonishing 95% of pledges are collected. “It’s not just people having their names read on the air,” said Manzione. “They’re putting their money where their mouth is.”

This year, the co-chairs of the Heart-a-thon were Jacquie Leventoff of Kohl’s Distribution Center and Howard Braunstein, owner of M & M Auto Group.

Leventoff has a personal interest heart disease. “My mom died of heart disease, my father had a massive stroke, and my 34-year-old brother died of a massive coronary. It’s something very near and dear to me. This is the fourth time I’m chairing this event.” Leventoff chaired the event 18 years ago also. “It’s a lot of coordination with groups coming in to man our phones, getting the pledges in prior to the event, so that they’re not just sitting here waiting for the phones to ring.” She explained that the team is out in the community at least two months ahead of time. She praised the local service groups including the Monticello and Woodridge Kiwanis, Mamakating Lions, Bethel First, Bethel Lions Club and many others. “A lot of groups are here every single year,” said Leventoff. “They call us and ask when is it and how soon can we start gathering money. Whatever we get we’re grateful for. This is our community hospital, and when people come here they want us to have the latest equipment. This is our backyard and we have to take care of our own.”

In contrast to Leventoff’s many years on the job, Braunstein calls himself “the new guy on the block. My business has been supportive for 20 years … collecting money at the dealership … My dad and mom, my wife and I we’ve all supported the Heart-a-thon by writing a check, but I’ve never been involved with the organization before. This year Jacquie was back at the helm and she talked to Helena and they liked my energy.

Braunstein said that being asked to co-chair this year was great timing. “I was looking for something where I could help give a little more back to the community in some other way than just writing a check. This year we instituted a new heart system – we sold those cardboard hearts for $1.00, but we also put $10 gold hearts out there. And I joked with our group and I said, ‘Women will give from their heart because they want to give $10. But guys think with their bravado, and it’s almost embarrassing for a guy to give a dollar, so they’ll reach in their pocket and give $10. And then you think that there’s somebody who might not want to spend $10, but they may buy two, three, four or five. So we’ve seen that the total dollar volume that we’ve generated from heart sales which is really the grass roots part of this, I think the totals will be this year better than they’ve ever been.”

Crediting his contacts and customers, Braunstein said, “I’m so blessed to have such a great customer base and my customers are stepping up on my behalf and I think I’ll end up doing it for a couple of years.

Throughout the day, different people were asked to speak on the radio whether as community representatives or acknowledged experts. Les Kristt of The Kristt Company is the person in charge of coordinating the speakers. “I make sure they’re in cue properly and make sure they’re getting interviewed when they should be. It’s kind of pre-arranged. We have about two or three an hour that we schedule throughout the day, and then there’s a variety of other dignitaries and such that we pick out of the audience and we get up here to talk when there’s a lull in the action. For the last two years I was one of the co-chairs.”

Kristt said that it’s not only an important event for the hospital but, “but it’s a fun event for the entire community to participate in and we’re all joking and laughing and we’re really having a good time.”

When so many people come together in one place for so long, they have to be fed. And Mark Siezcek sales promotion director for WSUL / WVOS is the person who was in charge of that and many other things. “They call me the radio guy,” said Siezcek. “My function with the Heart-a-thon is to make sure that everything goes smooth. Everything from printing to signage, to food to setting this place up. You name it, I’ve been doing it for 12 years.”

Siezcek is from Orange County but has been working in Sullivan County for 20 years. And in case anyone doubts his dedication, Siezcek was one of the few people on the road during the blizzard, driving 70 miles one-way to make sure everything was set up in time for the Heart-a-thon to run smoothly. The food for the multitude of volunteers was donated by the following businesses: ShopRite of Monticello, Cohen’s Bakery of Monticello, River’s Edge Restaurant and Bakery of Mongaup Valley, Blue Horizon Diner of Monticello, Dutch’s Tavern of Rock Hill, Mr. Willy’s of Monticello, Carmine’s Monticello Meat Market, Charlie’s II Restaurant and Pizzeria of Liberty, and County Fountain of Monticello.

The spirit of volunteerism was rampant. Avid volunteer, former Monticello School Board member. teacher and local actor, Jack Leshner was answering phones with his brother. “We’ve lived in this community for our entire 81 and 82 years, and we’ve got to give back, and this is the way to do that,” said Leshner. “Even with this very depressed area, we love this area, we were born and raised here. We’ve lived our entire lives here except for our college and service time, and we feel it’s very important for citizens of our community to do their very best to help their community.”

To view more photos or to purchase prints from the 32nd Annual Heart-a-thon, visit The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.