Doctor jumps into charity work with both feet
Howell’s Hal Ornstein is known for leading community assistance
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

This is a familiar sight in Howell at Thanksgiving — Dr. Hal Ornstein and members of the Howell Police Department joining forces to brighten the holiday and provide meals for needy members of the community.

HOWELL — Dr. Hal Ornstein is a driven man — a man driven to prove that one person can make a difference in the world; that small gestures offered as hope or help to those with need enrich the giver even more than the receiver.

Ornstein, 45, a Howell podiatrist, has been at the forefront of more philanthropic endeavors than he can recall, not just due to modesty, but because there are too many to even begin to try to remember, much less put in a list.

One person who has seen Ornstein’s efforts firsthand is Kevin Stout, the president of Howell PBA Local 228. Stout said Ornstein and his wife, Anna, are a power couple in a real sense.

Stout said Ornstein — who works with the PBA every year to pack and distribute meals to those in need during the holidays — is a person that he and Howell’s police officers know they can always depend on to not only help out in any effort, but who will take the reins and make sure the job gets done right.

And it’s not just the holidays that put Ornstein in overdrive.

There’s Miles of Smiles, a philanthropic endeavor started by the Ornsteins and their business colleague and friend, Gene Young of Young Appliances. Miles of Smiles makes sure that birthday gifts are provided to the less fortunate in the community as well as to homebound seniors.

Dr. Hal’s latest effort is a work in progress that has him working with Howell Chamber of Commerce administrator Sue Dominguez to coordinate an “adopt-a-family” effort to aid Hurricane Katrina victims in Tylertown, Miss.

Ever since Katrina struck in August, the 2,000 residents of Tylertown have tried to rebuild their community while accommodating people from other towns who have relocated there after being displaced by the hurricane.

Tylertown has already benefited from the generosity of Howell’s residents and businesses since Katrina struck through a relief fund and goods drive and distribution effort coordinated by Howell’s fire departments, first aid volunteers, Office of Emergency Management and PBA Local 228.

Of course, Ornstein was right there in the middle of it all, a cheerleader inspiring the troops while providing logistical support as well.

Compliment him for his volunteerism and he is quick to tell you, without false modesty, that he is just one more volunteer among a group of caring people who are all working hard to leave the world a better place than they found it.

“It is they who inspire me,” Ornstein said, speaking of all the volunteers, adding, “They always say yes, without hesitation, when I come to them with an idea. They can’t wait to help out.”

Ornstein’s altruistic focus remains firmly on Tylertown as he works with Dominguez to ensure that 200 Tylertown families are able to celebrate as normal a holiday season as can be coordinated under their present circumstances.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, Ornstein was able to help coordinate dinners through Tylertown food markets so that families who were otherwise facing a bleak Thanksgiving had something more to be thankful for.

Ornstein said Howell businesses and residents are now being asked to consider adopting a family from Tylertown for the duration of the holiday season. Each participating business has been provided with the names, ages, sizes and family requests (most people are requesting socks and blankets) and a Tylertown address.

Each business has on display a “giving tree” in its place of business featuring special ornaments. Customers who want to participate may select an ornament which contains a special message detailing the item on that child’s wish list. The customer would then purchase, wrap and mail a gift to the address provided.

“We encourage people to enclose a personalized greeting along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope so Tylertown’s children can write to you and tell you how much your gift brightened their holiday,” Ornstein said.

He said anyone who is interested in adopting a family or learning the location of “giving trees” in the township should e-mail Sue Dominguez in the

chamber office at sdominguez@howell-chamber.com.

Ornstein talked with Greater Media Newspapers on the Sunday evening following another Thanksgiving eve on which he worked to make the holiday better for the less fortunate in his community. It was the day he was to sit for an interview regarding his many community commitments; it was also the day his 84-year-old father died.

Asked to explain what motivates him to continue his many charitable endeavors, Ornstein’s reply is reverently reflective.

“It’s what my father taught me,” he said.

Ornstein wryly observed it was not that we should live each day as if it were our last, “because that would be a crazy way to think.” Instead, he said, “Live each day intending to make a difference.”

Ornstein said it was the way his father lived his life and knew that his son was living his life according to that same philosophy and that is why he “died a happy man.”

He said he used to go with his father, who was a traveling salesman, and watch his interaction with people. Ornstein said his father’s easy smile and caring way was always returned by others with genuine affection and respect.

He said it was these interactions between his father and mother that made quite an impression on an impressionable youth, and it set a course for his own life that he has never deviated from.

To be around the doctor can be exhausting, but in a good way, as his enthusiasm for life can be infectious and make a person feel like they want to live up to his example.

Spend any amount of time with him and you know he’s the real deal.

As president of a national podiatry association, Ornstein travels around the country, many times at his own expense, in order to give motivational speeches to other doctors. He said he tries to imbue them with his enthusiasm for life and zeal for real community service.

“Because I’m a doctor, I get the opportunity to take my philosophy to the medical world. I get to show them that if you want to make a difference, you can,” he said.

But more important to him is that his fellow doctors not just want to make a difference, but that they go out and do things that will leave the world in which they work and live a better place than they found it.

“I tell them it’s not about the money. Concentrate on people and the rest takes care of itself,” he said.

Ornstein is a person who is involved to make a difference and to show others that a positive attitude gets noticed and many times is returned in kind.

In fact, said Ornstein, the father of two sons, “It’s my challenge to all parents to be a role model for their kids because they are what you are.”

Ornstein said he knows at times he sounds “corny,” but he said he practices what he preaches, and that makes him the upbeat person he is. It is, he said, the reason he truly starts each day with a glad heart – and tomorrow will not be any different.