Linda Goldsmith joins Greenport senior Sarahi Tzun Rodreguez, 18, and Aleyna Gungor, 17, in a display of funds raised in honor of Cindy Goldsmith-Agosta.
Sixteen months after her death, educator Cindy Goldsmith-Agosta continues to support students at Greenport High.
Linda Goldsmith, the mother of the former special education teacher, has been working to raise scholarships and charitable donations in her daughter’s memory. Most recently, she partnered with members of the Greenport High School Class of 2023 on a double fundraiser. The students raised about $4,000 by selling tickets to a French toast breakfast and auction held at the Townsend Manor Inn last month. The school retains half of the funds to support events such as proms and senior breakfasts. At Tuesday’s Greenport School Board meeting, Ms. Goldsmith donated the remaining funds to the North Fork Animal Welfare Alliance, Greenport Skate Park and East resident Mary Latham’s national fundraiser “Better” — — all in honor of Ms. Goldsmith-Agosta.
“I bought an auction gift, [the students] Sold all the tickets and I couldn’t do it without them,” Ms Goldsmith said. “If my daughter was here, I would do a lot of things. “
These charitable events are Ms Goldsmith’s way of mourning her daughter, who died of cardiac arrest on January 15, 2022, a week after recovering from COVID-19, and keeping her alive in the community. She is 47 years old.
Tuesday’s donation to NFAWL is the most significant amount of money the organization has received since Ms. Goldsmith-Agosta’s death. Last year, her family asked the community to donate to the NFAWL, or the League, because her daughter is a lifelong dog lover. Subsequent large donations prompted NFAWL to rename its puppy house after Ms. Goldsmith-Agosta and add a plaque with her photo.
As for the donated skate park, Ms. Goldsmith-Agosta’s teenage son, John Agosta, used to skateboard and rollerblade there.
“He needs speed,” Ms Goldsmith said.
More Good, which raises money for various organizations and spreads goodwill across the country, supports the Cindy Goldsmith-Agosta Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit that Ms. Goldsmith founded last year. In return, she donated money and helped Ms. Latham organize a team to participate in the Muddy Princess dirt run and obstacle course in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The run will take place on Sunday, June 4 at the Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp in Riverhead.
Ms Goldsmith said the community supported her fundraiser not only through monetary donations, but also by donating gifts and gift cards as auction prizes.
“It’s been very rewarding for me,” she said. “I mean, it’s heartbreaking, but it’s nice to know that people, even after a year and a half, absolutely haven’t forgotten.”
Immediately after Ms Goldsmith-Agosta’s death, her absence was felt in the Greenport community. Hundreds of mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil for her, and many students she touched but were unable to attend offered their condolences.
“We’ve had calls from students in Vietnam, Australia, the UK, Texas, California and more,” Ms Goldsmith said. “And they’re still in touch with me.”
At Greenport High, senior class co-advisor Mike Sage, who helped Ms. Goldsmith’s recent fundraiser and is a lifelong friend of her daughter, said the presence of his fellow special education teacher is still felt . She was posthumously named the Suffolk Times 2022 Educator of the Year for her enduring personal and professional impact on schools and communities.
“She was hard to forget and she was a very special person,” Mr Sage said. “She has a heart of gold. If I could be half her teacher, half her, I’d be so proud of myself.
“She made an impact on the kids…she would grow to know them,” he continued. “She has a knack for finding kids who need a little extra guidance.”
Although Ms. Goldsmith-Agosta never worked as a teacher, Aleyna Gungor, one of the seniors who helped with the fundraiser, remembers talking to anyone who walked into her third floor on Tuesday night. Conversations between students in a classroom.
Aleyna, 17, said: “It could be academic pressure, it could be your personal life. She’s always there to give great advice.”
