Maimonides Medical Center Gives Back With Celebration Of Light

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Christian warmth and Godly cheer filled the Maimonides Medical Center Boardroom today as clergy and staff from parishes throughout South Brooklyn gathered for lunch and to receive a donation to help pay for their dazzling Christmas displays that have delighted local Brooklyn neighborhoods for generations.

It was the hospital’s 22nd Annual Celebration of Light, in what started as an idea for one Bay Ridge church over tea and crackers, has now grown to Maimonides helping defray the costs for Christmas displays of 33 parishes – a few from as far away as Queens.

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Maimonides President and CEO Kenneth Gibbs

“The Celebration of Light is a very accurate metaphor,” said Maimonides President and CEO Kenneth Gibbs, adding it is the various lights from the community that make it special.

Maimonides Executive Vice President and COO Dominick Stanzione said while the health care industry continues to go through change, the Celebration of Light remains a special event. “This community is a model of how communities work together,” he said.

In his opening remarks, Brian Long of Long and DeLosa Construction Group, recalled how the idea was conceived at the Visitation Monastery in Bay Ridge with Larry Morrish, a longtime and cherished Bay Ridge activist. He also invited the community to a dedication lighting on the ground of Visitation  in honor of Morrish. The event is slated 6;30 p.m., Sunday Dec. 4 at Visitation,  8902 Ridge Blvd in Bay Ridge.

Reverend Monsignor David L. Cassato, Pastor of St. Athanasius Church and a Maimonides Medical Center Board of Trustees member, gave the invocation.