Five Towns UJA dinner honors Jewish community leaders

More than 300 Five Towns residents attended the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York's South Shore Inaugural awards dinner on Sept. 16 at the Seawane Club in Hewlett, the Nassau Herald reported. The event honored five members of the Jewish community and was led by longtime chairs Ilene and Lawrence Cohen and Barbara and Alan Hartstein.

Melinda Strauss of Woodmere received the Community Advocate Award. She started as a food blogger in 2011 and later grew a TikTok following above 1.5 million, using her platforms after Oct. 7, 2023 to spread Jewish pride. Ronnie Gerber of Hewlett, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman since 2004, received the Business Leader Award. Her children flew in from Denver and Los Angeles for the dinner.

Hildy and Paul Feldman received the Partners In Purpose award for decades of support for organizations including Central Synagogue, the Hewlett Fire Department and the Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre. Nancy Stoll received the Woman of Valor Award; she is a lifetime member of Temple Israel of Lawrence, the National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah, and helped run the Seawane Club's annual UJA Day.