2012 Donors - Support Beth Israel Medical Center

12 Continuum
Alex Berenstein, MD,
Jack Kampf, Mark Cohen,
Chuck LeWinter and
Sami hailemariam
It was 1962. A group of guys who worked in the
rough-and-tumble garment business in Manhattan
often got together after work. They talked shop. They
played cards. They kidded. And they quietly raised
money for folks who needed it.
Business was good—and the men decided to give money,
in a more formal way, to children’s charities. Their group grew
from 22 to 100 members, becoming the Needlers Foundation
—“needlers” referring both to the needle trade and to their humorous
“needling” of one another. over the years, the Needlers
Foundation has given $2.5 million to the hospitals of Continuum
Health Partners, transforming the lives of very sick children.
In the ’90s, Foundation members sought a good children’s cause
to support, and scheduled interviews with leading pediatric
specialists. This led Jerry Fishman and Jack Kampf, co-founders
of the Foundation, to the late Dr. Fred Epstein, a renowned pediatric
neurosurgeon then based at NYU Medical Center. Jerry recalls
the meeting: “We went up to his office on 34th Street. We
liked him. He was a real straight guy. We decided to work with
him.” In fact, the Needlers fell so in love with Dr. Epstein, they
cancelled all of their other scheduled interviews.
In 1996, Dr. Epstein and interventional neuroradiologist Dr.
Alejandro Berenstein left NYU to establish the Hyman-Newman
Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery (INN) at Beth Israel
Medical Center, and the Needlers followed them there. In 2004,
the INN moved to Roosevelt Hospital, where today it provides
world-class treatment of vascular tumors, vascular birthmarks,
aneurysms and other blood vessel disorders of the head, neck,
brain and spine. “We get requests from patients all over the
Needler’s Foundation
Brings Smiles to our
Young Patients
“ Over the years, the Needlers Foundation
has given $2.5 million to the hospitals of
Continuum Health Partners.”
world with no means to pay,” Dr. Berenstein says. “The Needlers
help us with hospital costs, air fare, even money for the children’s
food. We doctors are very thankful.”
The Foundation’s spectacular 2004 gift of $1 million named the
Needlers Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Roosevelt. Jack Kampf
remembers, “Dr. Epstein said he and Dr. Berenstein wanted to
build a pediatric ICU. We said, ‘Go!’”
The Pediatric ICU is a unique universal bed unit, in which children
stay in one room throughout their recovery, a room that comes to
feel comfortingly familiar, often with pictures of their pets taped
to its walls. “We did away with all the moving,” Dr. Berenstein
says with passion. “The Needlers saw that. They loved what they
saw.” Foundation gifts also pay for a full-time Child Life Specialist,
whose toys and music, bedside chats and birthday parties make
hospital stays bearable for children. And Needlers support sends
giggles ricocheting down the ward when Adam the Clown visits.
on January 30, 2012, the INN had a special chance to recognize
the Needlers for their life-changing generosity. The event was
a send-off party for Samirawit “Sami” Hailemariam, a tiny and
beaming four-year-old patient from Ethiopia who, after eight
surgeries for a vascular birthmark that terribly disfigured her
face and caused her to spend most of her young life in hiding,
was about to return home to her village. Jerry Fishman says,
“This adorable little girl’s face was all distorted. Dr. Berenstein
and Dr. Waner (Milton Waner, MD, co-director with Dr. Berenstein
of the vascular Birthmark Institute of New York) did a tremendous
job. She was beautiful when she went home!” Dr. Berenstein
continues, “The Needlers helped us gain the smile of a little
girl who couldn’t smile.”
Perhaps Sami herself expressed it best in the framed note of
thanks she presented to Needler Board members Jack Kampf,
Chuck LeWinter and Mark Cohen: Thank You Needlers.
Golf Outing
Continuum Cancer Centers of
New York Golf Classic
More than 120 golfers enjoyed a day of camaraderie and fun on
the links at the 8th annual Continuum Cancer Centers of New
York Golf Classic at the Alpine Country Club in Demarest, New
Jersey, on September 26, 2011. Presenting sponsor New York
Radiology Partners generously donated $100,000 in support of
the event, and the day raised more than $366,000 for cancer
programs. Since its inception in 2004, the Golf Classic has
Million Dollar Gift
Endows New Fund
James Cox Chambers, a grateful patient of The
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, recently made a
gift in excess of $1 million to establish an endowed
Glaucoma Research and Education Fund in honor
of Jeffrey Liebmann, MD, Associate Director of
Glaucoma Services. This generosity represents a
significant tribute to Dr. Liebmann’s leadership in
glaucoma research, education and treatment.
Continuum 13
The CCCNY 2011 Golf Classic Event Committee:
Gary Levy, Jeffrey Lipsitz, Louis B. Harrison, MD,
Daniel Rozzi, Michael Lagana and Munir Ghesani,
MD (not pictured: Bruce Fabrikant, David Murphy,
Thomas Murphy, Jr., and George Paxos)
generated more than $2.6 million for cancer research, education
and patient care.
In addition to playing on a Tillinghast designed course, guests
were treated to a terrific auction, great prizes, and a wonderful
dinner. Louis B. Harrison, MD, Clinical Director, Continuum
Cancer Centers of New York, served as event chair, and sponsors
included Crestview Partners, The Diller-von Furstenberg Family
Foundation, David B. Murphy, Thomas S. Murphy Sr., and U.S.
Information Systems, Inc.
The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
The purpose of the fund is to enhance glaucoma research and
education through support of glaucoma fellowships, research
scientists, and/or specific research programs at New York Eye
and Ear. Individuals supported by the fund will be postdoctoral
Infirmary fellows (MD or PhD) or scientists with a specialty or
interest in glaucoma, and they will serve as members of the
Department of ophthalmology at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Glaucoma is called “the sneak thief of sight.” It is the first or
second leading cause of irreversible blindness in virtually every
country. More than 75 million people have this progressive neurodegenerative
disorder of the visual system, and about 8 million
are blind. It is estimated that more than 3 million Americans have
glaucoma; however, only half of those are aware that they have it.
In developing nations, up to 95% of persons with glaucoma are
unaware of it. Dr. Jeffrey Liebmann has dedicated his career to
broadening our understanding of this dreaded disease including
its cause, diagnosis, and treatment. His work has placed The
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at the forefront of innovation in
diagnostic and therapeutic advances that may one day help lead
to a cure for glaucoma.