The Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation Donation
Donor Spotlight: The Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation
Occasionally an organization is blessed with a donor whose commitment spans over decades and inspires others to follow in their footsteps. For Lighthouse International, that donor was Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg. She gave her first gift to the Lighthouse in 1983 and the Foundation bearing her name remains one of the leading supporters of our music school today.
Mrs. Greenberg's support for the Lighthouse Music School, as it was originally known, began when she started taking piano lessons in the early 1990s with Joe Fields, the Director of the school at that time. Using large print music provided by the music school staff, she continued her lessons well into her 90s, even when she was no longer able to leave her Upper East Side apartment. She showed her thanks through regular contributions, including the donation of her own Steinway piano.
Born in 1899 in Coney Island, Mrs. Greenberg, known as "Fil" to her friends, received her law degree from NYU in 1920 -- a time when it was unusual for women to receive professional degrees. In addition to practicing negligence and criminal law, she discovered a talent for investing in the stock market, which allowed her to pursue her humanitarian and philanthropic interests during her lifetime.
In 1990, Mrs. Greenberg established The Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation, through which she began supporting the Lighthouse Music School in a more significant way. In 2000, she died at the age of 102 leaving the bulk of her estate to the Foundation, which today is administered by her attorney and member of the Lighthouse Board of Advisors, David Malkin, and her nephew, Max D'Agostino.
In 2004, the Foundation made a multi-year pledge in Mrs. Greenberg's memory in the amount of $500,000, for which the Lighthouse proudly named the school The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School. Founded in 1931, the school provides students who are blind or visually impaired with accessible music instruction. Through voice and musical instrument instruction, the school teaches over 130 students of all ages to enjoy music and become accomplished performers. The school also leads in designing and testing assistive music technology and houses a unique, accessible library of more than 25,000 musical scores in Braille, large print and regular staff notation.
A Partnership with Steinway & Sons
Recently, Steinway & Sons offered an assessment of the pianos currently used by the music school, revealing that 75% of the pianos are Steinways, and their average age is 84 years! Although these pianos have served the school well for a long time, some of them are in desperate need of replacement.
In working with Bethany Rose of Steinway & Sons, Dr. Leslie Jones, the school's Executive Director, created a long-term plan to replace some of the school's oldest pianos with world-class Steinway & Sons pianos.
As a result, The Piano Replacement Program was launched at a special event on February 20, 2008 when students of The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School were featured in a piano recital at the magnificent Steinway Hall. The Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation decided immediately to support this important effort with a lead gift to purchase a new Steinway & Sons piano for the school's main classroom.
We are so pleased to thank Mr. Malkin and Mr. D'Agostino for The Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation's terrific gift enabling us to purchase the first piano as part of this exciting new initiative. We are indeed honored by the Foundation's long and meaningful history with this organization and their ongoing and generous support of The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Visionary Philanthropy, a newsletter for donors and friends of Lighthouse International.