History
The loss of a child is, without a doubt, the greatest of human tragedies. However, one Westchester family has turned their misfortune into a positive force in the community.
On December 4, 1981, Mark Brent Dolinsky, who was then 15 years old and a high school sophomore, was returning home on his bicycle. As he turned into his driveway, he was struck by a speeding car. The car's driver was driving with a suspended license. He was rushed by EMS to a local hospital where he was connected to life support equipment. After three days, a trauma expert concluded that Mark would not survive. The family made the courageous decision to donate Mark's organs to people with life threatening disabilities.
But the family's courage did not end there. To further turn this tragedy into a constructive social force, Mark's father, Dr. Aaron Dolinsky, a practicing psychiatrist in White Plains, announced at the funeral chapel that the family would establish a charitable foundation in Mark's memory. The Foundation would fund programs for Westchester County adolescents, both with and without disabilities.
When a young man lived as Mark did, his memory should live on, declared Muriel and Aaron Dolinsky.The Foundation is alive and well, and continues to reach out, enriching the lives of Westchester teenagers.
Achievements of the Foundation
Since its creation, the Mark Brent Dolinsky Memorial Foundation has awarded more than $275,000 to individuals and organizations whose mission it is to serve young people, and by its own estimate, more than 4,000 people's lives have been positively affected by the foundation. In recognition of its efforts, the foundation received the Jack and Ina Marash Distinguished Service Award in 1986 and the 1993 Presidential Citation of the New York State Recreation and Park Society Therapeutic Section.
The primary vehicle for disbursing monies is through other non-profit organizations in the Westchester community. There is a formal application process for entities interested in funding specific projects or programs. Only applications which benefit Westchester youth are considered.
Organizations have used funds in a variety of ways: underwriting the cost of teenagers preparing meals for the elderly, purchasing equipment for summer theater, developing a pilot program for teaching karate to youth with disabilities, providing woodworking and videography classes to local youth, awarding tickets to Radio City Music Hall holiday shows to terminally ill children and their siblings, sponsoring a legally blind girl to Music & Arts camp, electrification and installation of an ice hockey scoreboard, underwriting the cost of college tours for disadvantaged youth, and much more.
In addition to programs funded by application, the Foundation has established several ongoing awards. Annual awards are given to a White Plains High School sophomore, junior and senior, respectively, who exemplify Mark's noble character, which was defined by caring, compassion, integrity, motivation and good humor. Mark's love for music is memorialized by a scholarship for a worthy trumpet student at the Westchester Conservatory of Music. Another music award is made annually to a sophomore at White Plains High School. In addition to these ongoing programs, the foundation continues to support bicycle safety programs.
The Foundation has also donated equipment to all of the schools which Mark had attended.
The foundation engages in various fundraising events through the year, and also solicits donations directly. All monies raised are used within the community, either through the process of competitive application, or through the nomination of candidates for ongoing scholarships. The Mark Brent Dolinsky Memorial Foundation is a fully qualified 501 c(3) charity, with tax-exempt status.
An Advocate for Organ Donation
Over the years, the foundation has followed developments in the field of organ transplants, and acts to bring transplant awareness to the public.
The cornea, lungs, liver, kidney and tissues of Mark were donated. The recipient of one of his kidneys is now a father himself. Muriel Dolinsky finds consolation in knowing that Mark's tragic and premature death allowed others to have a second chance at life. Mark would have been proud of what the Foundation has done. He was that type of human being.