Local businessman and philanthropist Charles Reichert, owner of the Greenport and Southold IGA stores, has donated $17,000 to Greenport School’s athletic department to replace uniforms for their sports teams.
The generous donation came about after Greenport athletic director Chris Golden learned that Reichert had recently given money to replace the backstop at Mattituck High School’s baseball field. Golden contacted Reichert and asked if there was anything he could do to lend a hand to Greenport’s sports teams.
Reichert jumped on the chance to help.
“When I found out what the budget was for the athletic department and that it had to pay for officiating, transportation, and everything else, I said oooh, that’s crazy! That’s a lot of kids and a lot of teams,” says Reichert. “I said how about uniforms?”
So, in keeping with his long history of stepping up to help, Reichert showed up at Greenport School, check in hand, with funds to cover new uniforms for football, baseball, basketball and girls volleyball.
Reichert and his wife Helen are the overseers of the Charles and Helen Reichert Family Foundation, which donates money to a wide variety of causes.
“The idea for the foundation was to support children, historical things and parks,” explains Reichert.
His interest in the historical is evidenced in a recent arrangement to help out the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum in Greenport Village.
“I was out in Greenport one day and I went over to the fireboat and I saw the plaque and realized it was a historical boat. I had read somewhere that they needed help, so I called Charlie Ritchie [Fire Fighter Museum president] and we had a few meetings. He’s got a couple of grants, but the way the grants work, you have to do the work first and then they’ll give them the money. You need the money to get the work done, and you can’t get the money until it’s done. It makes no sense at all! So we discussed that and I suggested that I would give him up to $50,000 in matching donations and maybe that will encourage people to donate.”
Reichert’s generosity extends far beyond the North Fork, although he confesses that he has a soft spot for the East End.
“I just love the North Fork,” he says. “It’s so beautiful.”
Editor’s note: A previously published version of this story misstated the number of teams receiving new uniforms. New uniforms will be supplied for the football, baseball, basketball and girls volleyball teams.
