Former Board member Nancy Cowles Recognized for 50 years of Service

Former Community Chest Board member Nancy Cowles was honored at a ceremony for her 50 years of service to the Community Chest and Port Washington. Nancy was awarded the Mary Ellen McCullum service award by Community Chest President Drew Hershkowitz at a recent luncheon.

Nancy has been a tireless volunteer in our Port Washington community for more than 50 years. A retired school psychologist, Nancy volunteered as a tutor in reading, ESL and learning disabilities programs, and served on boards of many community and school organizations including a child guidance association, and student loan and scholarship committees.  She headed a committee that developed a comprehensive special education plan which was implemented in the Port schools.  Nancy, a past president of the Community Chest, has held several Board positions in the League of Women Voters, and was a member of Schreiber High School’s Diversity Committee, the Sons of Italy, and Pride in Port.  In 2003, Nancy was selected for the North Hempstead’s Women’s Roll of Honor.

Along with her husband Jim, she served nine years as a Trustee, Vice- President and President of the Port Washington Board of Education. Nancy chaired several Board committees and was the Board’s liaison to the Advisory Committee on the Landfill, the Town of North Hempstead’s Port Washington Visioning Committee, Parents’ Council and the Safe Drug and AlcoholFree Task Force. 

Included in her portfolio of Community Chest accolades, Nancy & her husband Jim were honored  as the 2013 Citizens of the Year, for their remarkable contributions to the Port Washington community.   The Community Chest’s Citizen of the Year Award recognizes “a lifetime of outstanding volunteer service on behalf of the citizens of Port Washington” and has been awarded annually since 1969.