The Julia Rusinek Memorial Fund is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization formed to celebrate the life of Julia Rusinek and to honor the ideals for which she lived. Julia was a gifted writer, an athlete, and, above all, a selfless humanitarian. She devoted herself to improving the lives of those in need. As a college student she dedicated her summers and any time free of studies to working with or on behalf of underprivileged children. Among her many activities, Julia was a counselor at a Fresh Air Fund camp, an intern with both the Children's Defense Fund and the Children's Law Center, and an active participant in the Peace Games at Yale.

This fund was established so that Julia's commitment to children could live on. Through direct involvement with children and through financial support of numerous activities and enrichment programs, indeed it does. Since the creation of the Fund in the Fall of 1999, we have been working very closely with Boys Harbor, a non-profit, multi-service, educational youth agency for boys and girls that has served the Harlem communities for 63 years. The Harbor now assists over 4,000 children and young adults annually by offering a variety of educational, cultural enrichment, science, and social service programs.

We have an ongoing close relationship with one of the sites that belong to the Boys Harbor organization -- the Harriet Tubman Day Care Center. The Center is located in a shelter for families on East 143rd Street in Manhattan. Over the years we have become part of the Harriet Tubman community. We strive to make the children's stay at the Center rich and stimulating. Typically, during our weekly visits we bring books that we read to the children. We organize special activities such as pumpkin decorations for Halloween or making fruit salad from a wide variety of usual and exotic fruits. With the cooperation of the teachers, we try to identify areas of need. We have been sponsoring weekly music and song sessions. We have set up an indoor garden in one of the classrooms and are sponsoring weekly gardening activities let by an accomplished educator and gardener. We have organized trips to children theater productions, the New York Aquarium, and to the Bronx Botanical Garden. A good part of our effort goes towards instilling the children with the love of books. We have been providing books for their library through purchases and through donations from Harcourt Brace & Co Publishers. We have been continuing our tradition of giving each child a book as a Christmas present.

In the past we made a grant to the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families, a pioneering, non-profit, community-based organization that works to enhance the quality of life for children in some of New York City's most impoverished neighborhoods. The grant aimed at training college students to act as tutors in a college preparation and readiness Program. We recruited volunteers from Barnard College to participate in that program.

We have raised funds for some of these programs through an annual run and a fun run for children. As of Spring 2008, the proceeds from runs generated $67,500 for LEAP (Leadership, Education, Athletics in Partnership), an organization serving underprivileged children in the in New Haven area. More about this annual event can be found here.

If you would like to make a donation to the fund you can make a check payable to the Julia Rusinek Memorial Fund and send it to:

Julia Rusinek Memorial Fund
2 West Dr.
Great Neck, NY 11021