Shirlee Gerstein Dedication Ceremony

Youth and Family Counseling Agency of Oyster Bay is a community-based organization started in 1969 by the Community Foundation of Oyster Bay. For the last forty-nine years, YFCA has been the "go-to" organization in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay for mental health, substance abuse, and a myriad of other social services for three generations. For the first forty-six years, Shirlee Gerstein had been the face of YFCA. She was not only the administrative assistant, she ran all the social needs programs including the food pantry, emergency clothing program, the Thanksgiving Food Drive, Holiday Sharing Program and the Camp Scholarship Program.

Three generations of those in need in the Hamlet knew that Shirlee would always be a kind, caring voice, on the telephone and had the skill, desire, and the ability to assist them in any way that was needed. She has been a mentor to three generations of social workers and taught by example how to care for those around us with kindness and dignity.

Shirlee retired at the age of eighty-six and passed away just short of her ninetieth birthday. She is mourned and missed by so very members of the Oyster Bay Community.

On August 1, 2018, Irving Place, the street on which she worked as "SHIRLEE GERSTEIN WAY'. The ceremony will take place at noon at the corner of South Street and Irving Place, followed by a carnival for children and those who are young at heart. All are invited to join in the celebration.