Meet Our Team
The Board
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Don Kennedy, co-founder
Retired Partner, Carter Ledyard & Milburn, LLP
Don and his wife Micki have been members of the Wolf Lake community since 1977. Don has served as a Wolf Lake director, the corporate secretary and a member of the finance committee. In addition, Don was project leader for the Bass Pond Nature Trail.
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Jim Gleason, co-founder
Partner, Hinman, Howard & Katell, LLP
The Gleason family has been owners at Wolf Lake since the 1960s. Jim and his wife Kathy bought the family cottage in 2018. Jim has served on the boards of several nonprofits in Binghamton, his home town, most recently the Binghamton Boys & Girls Club.
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Jean Eifert
Retired Educator, The Horace Mann School
Jean and her husband Kevin Cullen have been weekenders at Wolf Lake since 2001. Jean has served on the boards of Center Stage Community Playhouse and Greenville Community Theater. Currently, Jean is involved with the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop.
The Mission
Established in 2022, WLNF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization comprised of Wolf Lake homeowners engaged in philanthropic activities in the towns of Thompson and Mamakating.
What makes Wolf Lake special is not only the beauty of our natural surroundings but also the committed volunteers who manage the community’s physical assets, financial matters and various social and recreational activities. Many Wolf Lakers are involved in various worthy causes in their home towns. WLNF provides the opportunity for us to engage in similar activities in Sullivan County, one of the poorest counties in New York State. By lending our financial support and volunteering our time, we can be part of something of lasting importance.
Where did we start?
Our first project was supporting the Mamakating Library with a $4,000 grant for a summer of 2022 literacy program for children and families when schools were not in session. This was a critical need because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, libraries have become more than book repositories; they are important community centers serving the local population. Please visit our Initiatives page to see our latest projects.
What is next?
To sharpen our focus, we are setting up an Advisory Committee with prominent local community leaders who can recommend to WLNF what they see as the most critical needs in Thompson and Mamakating.
How can you help?
You can take action by clicking the “Volunteer” or “Donate” buttons on the website or by emailing us directly at wolflakeneighbors@gmail.com. And you can encourage your local business vendors to become a sponsor by directing them to our Sponsorship page.
Your neighbors,
Jim Gleason, Don Kennedy and Jean Eifert
Who are we?
A fair question. As our name implies, we are a group of your neighbors at Wolf Lake. You see us walking along South Shore Drive, East Road, Wolf Lake Road and Canal Road with our children and grandchildren. We wave to you from our boats as we slip by on an evening cruise, or we may be sitting next to you at the Italian Dinner or Oktoberfest.
A couple of years ago, while watching the sun set over our idyllic Lake, we got to talking about how fortunate we were to be part of this place. We also spoke about the abject poverty that surrounds Wolf Lake and the toll that the pandemic had taken on the families, and especially school age children, that live in the Towns of Thompson and Mamakating. Finally, we concluded that our life at Wolf Lake should be about more than the enjoyment we take from our beautiful surroundings and our shared concerns about the Dam, the Conference Lodge and weeds in the water. Maybe, in some small way we could make life better for those families that are facing a tough time not far from our shores.
In furtherance of these discussions in 2022 we formed the Wolf Lake Neighbors Foundation, Inc. WLNF is a New York not-for-profit corporation that has been granted 501 (c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. This means that all contributions to the WLNF are tax deductible. WLNF does not have any formal relationship with Wolf Lake, Inc. It is governed by a separate board of directors and does not receive any financial support from Wolf Lake, Inc.
What have we done?
2023 was our first full year of operation. We were able to get twenty (20) local businesses to join us as sponsors and another twenty (20) individuals donated to WLNF. In total we received just over $9,000 in gifts. WLNF used this money to fund the following grants: 1. Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County - supporting its English as a second language program in Monticello; 2. Mamakating Library – funding four different programs – Tutoring of Grade 5 “At Risk” students, Tutoring of Grade 2 “At Risk “students, a Kindergarten Preparatory Program, and a Teen Intern; and 3. the Rock Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps. In addition to these monetary grants WLNF also ran an informational program at the Clubhouse where members of the Rock Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps spoke about what to do if an emergency occurs at our homes on the Lake. Our volunteers also ran a children’s winter clothing drive for the benefit of needy children in the Monticello area. All in all, a busy year.
What is next?
We would like to continue our support of the Literacy Volunteers, Mamakating Library, and Rock Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps. These are all worthy organizations that need our support. In addition, we will be making a donation of $5,000 to Sullivan Community College to support a transfer scholarship that would help one of its graduates from the Towns of Mamakating or Thompson complete their education at a SUNY University or College. To continue this work, we need to raise additional funds.
Jean Eifert
646-996-4188
Don Kennedy
914-588-5591
Jim Gleason
607-206-2011