Activist, Humanitarian, Philanthropist
Amy Hagedorn
Receives Honors

By Maureen Traxler

While Amy Hagedorn has undoubtedly achieved success as a pre-school teacher, wife, mother, and supporter of her husband and legendary garden industry giant, Horace Hagedorn, "Mr. Miracle-Gro," she is soon to be honored by three local organizations whose award titles aptly described Amy and her bountiful contributions to the people of Long Island. The Long Island Fund for Women and Girls has chosen Amy to receive its Community Activist Award at its 12th annual Women Achievers' Breakfast on November 8; the Mental Health Association of Nassau County honors Amy with its Humanitarian of the Year Award on November 16; and the Association of Fundraising Professionals selected Amy to receive the first Horace Hagedorn Outstanding Philanthropist Award at its annual event, November 17.

Amy Hagedorn grew up in Astoria, Queens under the shadow of the Triborough Bridge. Her family moved to Flushing when she was 12. She attended Jamaica High School, CUNY's Baruch College, and earned a Master's Degree in Education from Queens College. While her studies centered on secondary education, she found her niche as an early childhood classroom teacher. She taught three- and four-year-old pre-schoolers for 23 years - first at St. Aloysius School in Great Neck and then in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Public School District.

Hagedorn was a single mother of four, when she met and married widower Horace Hagedorn 20 years ago. Horace had six children of his own. Today, Hagedorn refers to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as her "bonus" family.

When the masterful marketing maverick retired in 1997, he and his wife Amy turned from sprouting garden miracles to making miracles happen for people in need and nonprofit organizations thirsty for a chance to grow. Looking for a setting where they might assist people and influence the future of Long Island, the Hagedorns established the Horace and Amy Hagedorn Fund in the Long Island Community Foundation, and the couple began to nurture some 300 grassroots and charitable organizations that help children, families and educational efforts.

"When Horace put my name on his fund, he gave me a new career," Hagedorn told Networking¨ magazine in a recent interview. She notes that while Horace's prior giving had been more traditional - the Red Cross, the local hospital and local library - their association with the Long Island Community Foundation introduced them to broader needs and new opportunities for giving.

"I was learning along with Horace about different ways of supporting good efforts," Hagedorn remarks. "It was through Suzy Sonenberg at the Community Foundation and other renowned people in the philanthropic world like David Hunter that our horizons expanded. We learned that philanthropy can promote societal change."

Community Activism
About a year into their philanthropy, the Hagedorns and others interested in promoting sustainable and equitable economic development and environmental health initiated the nonprofit called Sustainable Long Island. Today, Hagedorn serves as president of the Board of Directors. Sustainable's efforts center on downtown revitalization.

"Sustainable Long Island acts as a bridge and sometimes a catalyst between people in communities and their elected officials. We work with a local partner to help people rethink, renew and rebuild communities," says Hagedorn. "Sustainable Long Island assists people and communities for whom choices and opportunities have not been accessible in the past."

"This is work that one hopes will yield results over time," emphasizes Hagedorn, "and you just have to keep plugging at it." She jokingly compares the time-versus-success of revitalization to Horace's long, yet prestigious career, adding: "I like to say about Horace that in 40 years, he was an overnight success."

Sustainable's revitalization efforts stretch from Wyandanch to Elmont and from Port Washington to Riverhead, says Hagedorn. The process is fourfold: an initial meeting of stakeholders - residents, business owners, civic leaders, clergy, young people, environmentalists, and town, village or county officials; public education workshops; community visioning where stakeholders share their ideas; and implementation.

In Westbury, Sustainable Long Island assisted a fledgling community group, Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corporation, led by Bishop Lionel Harvey, which gathered input from a broad segment of the community. The UNCCRC was able to bring $60 million worth of private investment to the corridor called Prospect Avenue, and together with the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County and Sustainable Long Island, is beginning to transform empty lots into a vibrant community with a bank, pharmacy, supermarket, and multi-family housing. The project has spurred community spirit with renewed efforts from local leadership, including block captains.

"Revitalization usually entails a diversified housing stock," says Hagedorn. "Enlightened mayors and other officials are coming to understand the need to develop towns that suit people's lifestyles." Hagedorn also points out the unique revitalization efforts happening in Centereach where the Middle Country Public Library is helping initiate a vision to create a downtown where there was none before. The community didn't want a strip mall. Instead, it wanted to build an area nearby the library that would be pedestrian friendly, useful to residents, a place where people can gather.

Sustainable Long Island recently received a grant from the Roslyn Savings Bank Foundation to promote and enhance its community revitalization program through collaboration. Sustainable Long Island will convene a Community Partners Roundtable, so that the local organizations can share what they've learned.

Another major effort undertaken by Sustainable Long Island is its advocacy for legislation to rehabilitate brownfields. "Today, we have to think regionally," remarks Hagedorn. "What happens in one community affects those around it." Sustainable has initiated a Girl Scout merit patch, called the Brownfields Buster. Scouts from all levels, Daisies to Gold Star achievers, engage in age-appropriate activities focusing on brownfields, spreading awareness of their existence, and promoting redevelopment. Hagedorn reports that this latest effort was well received at the National Environmental Protection Agency's Conference in Denver this spring, where the program received a standing ovation.

Humanitarianism
As a partner with Horace, Hagedorn has supported numerous efforts, including many social service, family and educational institutions that now have structures named in honor of Horace Hagedorn, such as the Hagedorn Little Village School in Hicksville, the Hagedorn Family Resource Center of Family and Children's Association in Hempstead, the Hagedorn Family Place at the Middle Country Public Library, the Hagedorn Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Center at North Shore-LIJ Health System, the Hagedorn Pediatric Center at Winthrop Hospital, Hagedorn Hall at Hofstra University and the Hagedorn Hall of Enterprise at Adelphi.

Recognizing the need to support women's issues, Hagedorn continues to make grants to Women on the Job and the Long Island Fund for Women and Girls, and through ERASE Racism, to assist in changing racist institutional practices and policies that still persist in housing, education and job opportunities.

Hagedorn has joined funder collaboratives, including Early Care and Education Long Island, which is a comprehensive program to raise the standard of care for children and bring new opportunities to providers.

Philanthropy
Noting that the climate for fundraising has become increasing difficult, Hagedorn recalls the efforts of a special Hagedorn family fundraiser, led by Horace's daughter Susan. As Horace entered his 90th year in 2004, his children commissioned a documentary of his life called, "Meet Mr. Miracle-Gro". The film premiere was a benefit for Sustainable Long Island, and since Horace matched every dollar raised, the effort resulted in a $1.2 million reserve fund that acts to sustain Sustainable Long Island's work in communities.

Since Horace passed away in January 2005, Hagedorn has continued to support the nonprofit community through the Horace and Amy Hagedorn Fund in the Long Island Community Foundation and through the private Horace Hagedorn Foundation. She notes that it's "difficult to spend philanthropic money wisely," especially if one wants to have an impact, and adds, "problems and needs are not always clear cut."

Hagedorn has also been involved in another Hagedorn "naming" the Hagedorn Community Center in Manhasset, which will open its doors in September. The center occupies a rehabilitated school building for which Horace provided the major donation. She notes that the building houses a "vibrant head start program."

Venturing anew, Hagedorn reports that the Horace Hagedorn Foundation has been concentrating for almost a year on immigration issues, aiming to ease tensions and provide integration of immigrants into communities.

Pointing out that her full name is Amelia, which shares the same 'root' as ameliorate, to make better or improve, Amy Hagedorn says that perhaps throughout her life she's been "following careers based on her name's derivative."