‘My dream is to make it easier for families with food allergies and for those who just want to make a better carbon footprint on the world.’

Kimberle Lau, Syosset

“I’ve always thrived in businesses that were entrepreneurial. My love language is innovation. Along the way, I’ve also had a passion for baking, and when I became a mom, I became a healthier baker because I was so keen on feeding my kids with only healthy, wholesome ingredients.

“After my first pregnancy 12 years ago when I was 31, I became lactose and egg intolerant. I was having stomach issues, and I finally realized it was every time I had dairy, so I had to learn to modify my diet.

“It was tough because then it wasn’t a major trend. Then in 2020, during COVID, I learned I was at high risk for breast cancer and eliminated soy from my diet. I had surgery, and in the wake of that, as I was recovering, I was feeling like, What’s my purpose? What do I want to do with the rest of my life?

“I left corporate America and had a side hustle where I was baking for local clients in my neighborhood: healthier cupcakes, cakes, doughnuts and muffins. I realized it was hard for many people to really enjoy a treat because of their dietary restrictions. I thought it be great to have something easy like a mix that you just add oil or plant milk and water and can make delicious treats.

I call myself the founder and chief baker, but on social media I nickname myself as a plant-based baking mama.

“Last summer, I decided to take a chance on myself and try to launch this business. I created mixes earlier this year and partnered with Drexel University and their incubator lab to develop the mixes. I launched plant-based baking mixes, Bake Me Healthy, in May. They’re gluten-free, vegan and free of the top nine allergens, because baking should be inclusive.

“They’re also made with upcycled ingredients, creatively taking food that would normally go to waste and finding a purpose and a new use for it, like coffee cherry flour.

“It’s just like working in an entrepreneurial culture. I try to be scrappy, nimble and quick. I’m launching an oatmeal pancake and waffle mix and then a banana bread and muffin mix. I call myself the founder and chief baker, but on social media I nickname myself as a plant-based baking mama.

“My dream is to make it easier for families with food allergies and for those who just want to make a better carbon footprint on the world, but not at the risk of compromising your health.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘Instead of going to medical school, I studied chiropractic, a natural healing art.’

Syosset

“When I was an undergraduate biology major, I met a chiropractor, a doctor who believes that the body can cure itself if you release its own healing ability. What he said made sense and seemed rational. So instead of going to medical school, I studied chiropractic, a natural healing art that has been helping people since 1885. It’s drugless, doesn’t use surgery and is based on taking care of the structure of the human frame, freeing up the nervous system so it can function at a high level, and maintaining health without having to take a pharmaceutical drug every time you have a pain or an ache.

In my garage … I built the first prototype of the Extentrac.

“I graduated from New York Chiropractic College in 1980. While there, I referred my mother to a chiropractor who alleviated the chronic back pain she had suffered for years. I opened my practice in Syosset 40 years ago. I was working with a nurse who had a severe herniated disc that wasn’t helped by medications, traditional chiropractic manipulation, conventional medical traction or physical therapy. She was bent at a 30-degree angle. In a last effort to help the patient, I dynamically lifted her in a backward bending position with vertical gravity. I observed an immediate reduction in pain. The patient was standing straight, and a new therapeutic technique was born. After achieving good results treating patients manually for two years, I realized I could develop a machine to treat a wider range of conditions and patients.

“In my garage, using pipes from a Long Island fence company and a bending device lent by a patient who was a union electrician who’d avoided surgery from this procedure, I built the first prototype of the Extentrac. The original led to more prototypes and more advanced models with more features. The product has been further developed by Spine Care Technologies Inc., with new designs focusing on sports injury prevention and enhanced athletic performance. Spine Care Technologies is marketing the fifth-generation therapeutic device, Extentrac Elite, to the health care and sports industries.

‘My work is an antidote to the wasteful, consumer-oriented direction of modern life. I don’t like to waste; I don’t like to throw things out.’

Syosset

“As a found-object artist, I like to work with things that have a history to them. I like the hunt. I’m always looking for interesting things. I go to flea markets and junk stores. I’m always looking in dumpsters. I look at people’s garbage. And my friends give me very strange gifts on my birthday. This past birthday, I got some old hinges and believe it or not, I got some human hair.

“People love to get rid of stuff. The things I get from friends give added meaning to my work because they’re helping me create the piece. I take things apart a lot, like an old adding machine.

“If I’m throwing anything out, I will take it apart first. The older things have better parts in them. I have a lot of stuff, I particularly like things that are rusty, that have some sort of patina on them already. I don’t distinguish between things that are precious and things that are what most people would call junk. I could put a diamond next to something rusty that I found in the street.

“My mother was an artist; she has a painting in the Smithsonian. The first thing I remember making was a cigar box that I did bead work on. I still have it. As a child, I used to love to play in the woods. My friend and I loved to find things. I always liked to make something out of nothing. I’m a tap dancer, so I use old taps from my shoes.

“I use kitchen utensils and a lot of taillights; it’s a nice material, the plastic is strong, it has color and texture. I use steel wool to dull it a little. Oh, and organ stops. My friend called me, it was pouring rain, and she said, ‘There’s an organ out in the street.’ I said, ‘I’ll be right over.’

“I’ve made a lot of jewelry, but it’s just small sculpture. The jewelry was kind of big, and it kept getting bigger, so I said, ‘What the hell! I should just make sculpture.’ I’ve been in galleries. I was just in a show at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum. I’ve been on the board of the Long Island Craft Guild for like 50 years now.

“My work is an antidote to the wasteful, consumer-oriented direction of modern life. I don’t like to waste; I don’t like to throw things out. I’d rather put them in a sculpture where they can have a new life.”

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘It’s a human right that every single person on this planet should have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.’

Syosset

“My name is Desiree. I’m 9 years old and I had an idea: Instead of throwing out our seeds, we could save them and grow them in our local farms.

“It started out when I was 4. There was a sign outside of my preschool asking for canned food donations, and I asked my mom, ‘Why do we eat fresh fruit and vegetables, and the people getting the donations get canned food?’ I wanted to donate fresh tomatoes because I love tomatoes.

“My mom explained that canned food keeps longer and is easier to donate. We had a garden that year, and I saw how seeds grew into vegetables, so I thought, ‘Can we just plant seeds and give them food?’ That’s cost efficient, and I’ll go and hand it to them door to door so that it doesn’t go bad.

“I wondered who owned the land first, and why do only some people have access to fresh food, and how can I change that? I wrote a letter to President Biden and sent him $17 asking him to give my school a greenhouse so I could grow vegetables all year ’round to donate, but I haven’t heard back yet.

I collected so many seeds that Island Harvest cannot even grow it all this year.

“I started collecting seeds in first grade. At my house, I would have this huge bucket right next to the mailbox for people to come and put their seeds. That year, I grew a lot of vegetables in my school garden, and the produce went to the family of vets.

“Then, COVID happened, so the rest of the seeds stayed with me, and I kept adding to my collection. I teamed up with the head farmer at Island Harvest; people can volunteer there to farm the land.

“This year, they are going to use all of my seeds on the farm. I collected gallon-sized plastic bags full of bell pepper and cantaloupe seeds. Did you know that one seed from a cantaloupe can make four cantaloupes, and there are about 300 seeds in each cantaloupe? We could feed so many bellies out there in the world. That is how I will stop world hunger.

“I collected so many seeds that Island Harvest cannot even grow it all this year. Families who qualify for donations from Island Harvest receive boxes of food, and it’s hard to fill every single box with nutritious food. I want to do my part to make sure every box is full. It’s a human right that every single person on this planet should have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘Last summer was my 62nd year as a lifeguard. When I realize that I can’t save someone or spot someone in trouble, then I’ll leave.’

Syosset

“Last summer was my 62nd year as a lifeguard. I’m probably the longest working lifeguard in the U.S. that still has to pass the competitive test. I grew up in NYC, and when I was 17, they were training lifeguards at the 54th Street pool, so I took the test.

“When I graduated high school in 1960, I would ride the A train to Rockaway, 2½ hours each way, and would make $6 each day to sit on a lifeguard stand for 8 hours. What else are you going to do when you’re 18 in the city and could be sitting on a lifeguard stand?

“After four years, I left Rockaway for Jones Beach, where I was lifeguarding and made a captain — they even named me the “Golden Lifeguard” after year 50 — until 2015, when I missed passing the test by a tenth of a second! To pass the test, you had to swim 100 yards under 80 seconds, in addition to running. At 50 years old, I could do 59 seconds. As I got older, the numbers started to float. Instead, I passed a different test in Atlantic Beach and have worked at The Sands since 2016.

As long as I can do it, I will.

“When I go to parties, there are so many interesting people, and all anyone wants to know about is lifeguarding. It’s a big thing to be able to save people’s lives and make a big difference while getting to enjoy the summer.

“I have many stories, but one that sticks out is when I was opening a lifeguard stand and another lifeguard and I heard something. We both turned to find a sand bar had collapsed in front of the rocks. A family of five got swept out. Luckily, they stayed together; if they had parted, we’d have had to decide who’d get to live. We brought them all in. In November, I got a text from the father: ‘We’re all here having Thanksgiving dinner because of you.’ That makes it so meaningful.

“When I started working at The Sands, I was older. I didn’t know how the renters there would feel about that, but it was 180 degrees different from how I thought. They respect having an older person and realize that our word is a bond. One guy said, ‘I want you to realize we’re grateful to know that once we’re down on the beach, we’re safe with you.’ As long as I can do it, I will. When I realize that I can’t save someone or spot someone in trouble, then I’ll leave.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘We met through a wrong number. Now we have been together for almost 48 years.’

Syosset

“One night in 1974, I went with a friend to a youth singles group. We had a good time. Weeks went by. Suddenly, I got a call from some man asking for Marilyn. I said, ‘This is Marilyn.’ He said, ‘Well, this is Joe.’ I asked, ‘Joe who?’ ‘Joe from the group.’ ‘What group?’ He said, ‘Oh, I must have the wrong number. Are you tall, thin and blond?’ I was snarky and went, ‘I wish!’ He said, ‘I do have the wrong number.’ We hung up while I was laughing.

“A few days later, I was talking to a friend who also belonged to the group. I asked if she knew of a tall, thin Marilyn. To my surprise, she did! We both thought the mix-up was funny. Soon after that, she had a party, and in comes Joe! He introduced himself. I said, ‘Next time you call, don’t hang up.’ We laughed. I thought he was attractive, and I liked his smile.

“Soon, I found out he was dating another Marilyn with the same last name — and she was tall and blond! It turned out that Joe had originally gone to the head of the singles group because he was shy and asked him for the other Marilyn’s phone number; he was accidentally handed the number for me.

I learned that you have to speak up, and you should always make a move because you never know.

“The second time I went to the group, he was there with his sister, but I didn’t know who she was. I mistakenly thought he was dating her and was disappointed. Luckily, it turned out that he was now single, and he was actually there hoping to see me! He thought I was pretty.

“Our first date was at an oldies concert at Nassau Coliseum. He also used to show up at a bar I would be at with a friend. They would play Beach Boys music, and he’d ask me to dance. He was good to me and treated me special. We got married in 1977. He snuck away with my best friend to buy me a ring and surprised me with it. He was so excited to give it to me.

“Now we’ve been together for almost 48 years. It’s funny how things happen. I’d never gone to that group before, so it was obviously meant to be. If it happened today, I would’ve thought it was a spam call. We laugh about meeting through a wrong number, and now we have two daughters and two granddaughters. I learned that you have to speak up, and you should always make a move because you never know.”

‘My work feeds my spirit and helps me feel that life is worth living on those days when it looks pretty gruesome out there.’

Syosset

“I founded ERASE Racism in 2001 after being hired by the Long Island Community Foundation to develop a project to address racism rather than its symptoms. I was excited to have the freedom to design what I thought was needed: an initiative focused on identifying and addressing institutional and structural racism.

“Twenty years later, we still focus on the policies and practices that end up producing racial inequities, especially in housing and education. We start with discrimination in housing, which leads to school segregation. On housing, we’ve done research that has led to changes in local laws, and we’ve worked with other groups across New York to increase statewide protections, such as a ban on discrimination against people using legal non-wage sources of income to pay for housing. As another example, seven fair housing bills that we championed have been signed by the governor. We’ve also been working with public schools to increase racial equity, providing professional development about how racism has shaped Long Island and helping educators and students deal with this knowledge. In founding ERASE Racism, I knew that this would be the culmination of my work, and that it would be a big challenge.

I think of legendary civil rights leaders like John Lewis, who was near death and kept working on racial justice, and I tell myself, ‘Whatever tiredness you feel, whatever frustration you have, get over it.’

“Fortunately, generous donors have sustained us for 20 years. Our work has been an education for me, too, as I’ve gained a much deeper understanding of how racism has been embedded in America. It’s very easy to get pessimistic, to say, ‘This is not changing today or next week, and it might not even change in your lifetime.’ But I know that there are people who have been deeply changed because of what we do, and that helps keep me going. My work feeds my spirit and helps me feel that life is worth living on those days when it looks pretty gruesome out there. I’m a person of faith, and that is very important to me.

“I draw, too, on history, including the recognition of all that my parents had to endure and the fact that they still found joy in life. I think of legendary civil rights leaders like John Lewis, who was near death and kept working on racial justice, and I tell myself, ‘Whatever tiredness you feel, whatever frustration you have, get over it.’”

‘I realized that when you’re flying it’s like being out in the middle of the country. No one is up there and it’s calm and relaxed.’

Syosset

“My entire life has revolved around planes. My dad used to work at JFK, and after work he would take me to see planes taking off and landing. That led me to Purdue University to study aerospace engineering. I want to be the guy that, when people have questions about planes, they know they can come to me and ask. I have the credibility, knowledge and experience to talk about them. I want to do everything with engineering.

“It’s really cool being up there looking down, almost like you’re in a separate world. You feel so disconnected, but you also look out and feel, ‘Wow, I’m thousands of feet off the ground’. It’s an interesting duality. I’m still working on my pilot’s license. Sometimes I fly solo. One of your big milestones in working for it is doing your first solo flight. Afterwards, training starts picking up. You need to feel comfortable with taking off and landing.

I have learned that with flying, it is one thing to read about, watch and see it, but it’s another thing to actually do it. Until you do it yourself, you don’t understand all the intricacies and the nuances of it.

‘You start doing more technical things like flying to other airports, exploring more, completing more maneuvers, and experiencing simulated weather. I have learned that with flying, it is one thing to read about, watch and see it, but it’s another thing to actually do it. Until you do it yourself, you don’t understand all the intricacies and the nuances of it.

“I have lived on Long Island my entire life; it wasn’t until I left that I realized that the rest of the U.S. doesn’t look or feel like Long Island. There is a lot of free space. It was a culture shock to see how densely populated Long Island is. The drive to my college in Indiana is 14 hours. Once I was past Pennsylvania, I would see corn fields and nothing else. When I got back from my freshman year, I was talking to people and it felt like everyone here had drunk five cups of coffee. I realized that when you’re flying it’s like being out in the middle of the country. No one is up there and it’s calm and relaxed.

“From my first year of being away from the busyness of Long Island, I learned to be more patient and understanding with people’s time. More teenagers should give going away to school a shot. They will learn to appreciate Long Island more and realize what they don’t have when they go away. They’ll also discover something new.”