Before setting off for Making Strides at the Eastern Campus on a bright, cold Sunday morning, FA members pose with our handmade breast cancer quilt. (photo by Joan Wozniak)

The FA has so many ways of keeping members engaged and involved.

Sunday, October 28, found a dozen FA members along with family and students making strides around the Eastern Campus for the annual American Cancer Society event.

For years TEAM FA has participated in the very large Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event at Jones Beach, which typically has around 50,000 walkers. This year, however, the Jones Beach event directly conflicted with the NYSUT Community College Conference, so we were unable to participate.

All our energies, then, were directed to the Eastern Long Island Making Strides event, which was hosted on Sunday, October 28, at the Eastern Campus.

Thank you to all who participated! It means a great deal to all of us who have been impacted in some way by this disease. Our team walkers and/or supporters include the following:

Jean Anastasia (with daughter Sydney)

Doug Cody

Joan Cook

Carole Anne DeVine

Cynthia Eaton

Fiona Grady

Anita Greifenstein

Regina Keller

Debbie Kiesel

Linda Lapp

Faye Lourenso

Joann Mancuso

Ralph Masullo

Kevin McCoy

Terry McCoy

Pete Smith

Kim Ng Southard

Sean Tvelia (with sons Kai and Micah Tvelia)

Jane-Marie Wright

While TEAM FA walkers have unlaced their shoes, you can still donate before December 31 by visiting main.acsevents.org/goto/FA.

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New FA members (from left) Louise Rotchford (Corporate Training), Kristen Cinar (Library) and Kathleen McCoy (Honors) as well as FA mentor Kenya Harvey (Corporate Training) listen as New Member Coordinator Matt Pappas shares important information for new hires at the FA bagel brunch on October 3. (photo by Kevin Peterman)

Earlier in October, the FA packed a room full of new members as well as their mentors for a lovely bagel brunch at the Ammerman Campus.

During this meeting, New Member Program Coordinator Matt Pappas offered a second greeting to our newest members.

That's right: a second greeting.

New members are greeted by the FA every year during the late August new faculty orientation. However, we know that new hires receive way too much information on that day, so we host a special brunch to make sure they get the critical information they need as the newest members of the FA.

Included in the presentation is a wealth of information about the FA's various social justice, political action, community outreach and member service initiatives as well as the professional and financial benefits of FA membership.

Members also receive information about how to plan for their first years at the college, with an eye toward balancing their core teaching or work responsibilities, their professional growth and their college and community service.

We encourage our new members—like all of our members!—to find ways to get involved and engaged with the FA. Our union is strong because it is built on member activism.