CFOB sponsors the Head Start early literacy program

In 1965 the State of New York designated Oyster Bay as a suitable community for a Head Start early literacy program.  Ethel Roosevelt Derby, a daughter of Teddy Roosevelt who led the Oyster Bay Stop Gap Fund, enlisted Abby and George O’Neill and a group of Oyster Bay citizens to form the CFOB as the legal entity to sponsor the Head Start program. The initial mandate included finding a space from which the program could be run, and contributing money to fully cover the costs of this program not funded by the State.  George O’Neill was the first President of the CFOB board, serving in that role until 2006.