Ida D’Angelo
May 14, 2012
Ida D’Angelo
Award: HONORING WOMEN IN NEW YORK
Year: 2012
Ida D’Angelo has served her Valley Stream community over the past five decades. When her children were growing up, she was very active in the Parent Teacher Association. In recent years, her service has centered on Friends of Bridge, a local substance-abuse treatment facility, and the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library.
A Valley Stream resident since 1960, she currently serves as president of both the Friends of Bridge Board of Directors and the Waldinger Library’s Board of Trustees. With Friends of Bridge, Ms. D’Angelo has really made her mark and has been involved since its inception. She has been a member of the board for 15 years, during which time she led the charge to bring substance-abuse awareness programs to schools in Valley Stream and surrounding communities.
Ms. D’Angelo was also instrumental in arranging a series of author visits for teens in the program. Always an innovative thinker, Ms. D’ Angelo took advantage of her dual roles at Friends of Bridge and the library to arrange for “book talks” in which teenage clients read books and then meet the authors.
Through hard work and dedication, Ms. D’Angelo has worked her way up through the executive board, serving as secretary, then vice president before becoming president three years ago. Always looking to get the word out, she was instrumental in obtaining a table at a local mall to hand out information on Friends of Bridge and its services.
In addition to her work with Friends of Bridge, Ms. D’Angelo took over as president of the library’s board of trustees, which is appointed by the village. The board is charged with setting the policies and fines, and recommends library services. In addition to her civic duties, Ms. D’Angelo works each day in the tax department at Village Hall, where she provides friendly and knowledgeable help to the public.
Ms. D’Angelo is a Eucharistic minister at Blessed Sacrament Church and previously volunteered at the thrift shop. She is a member of the local Historical Society and is past-president of the Valley Stream Republican Club.