82 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2021
TRIATHLETE ANDREW GILLMAN
ROWING FOR A CAUSE
BY BRIANA BONFIGLIO
A triathlete originally from Port Washington is training
to row solo around Long Island to raise money for
charity.
Andrew Gillman, who now lives in Boulder, Co., started a
fundraising campaign, Endurance Driven Philanthropy,
to organize his own extreme cycling, climbing, skiing,
and rowing missions for nonprofit organizations. He
previously ran triathlons and took up rowing to stay fit.
He was also the first American to climb ice for 24 hours.
“I’ve been given so much, whether it's gear or time or
opportunity, and I love being able to help other people,”
Gillman says. “The endurance gets to drive the philanthropy,
and I’m using my gifts as an athlete to change
people’s lives. If I help one person, I’m good, I got my gold
medal.”
He had planned to spend eight days rowing around
Long Island — from Sagamore Yacht Club in Oyster
Bay, around the entire Island, and back — in September.
However, his previous rowing mission on Lake
Tahoe was postponed due to nearby wildfires. So
the Long Island rowing expedition is now pushed off
until June 2022. Gillman believes he’ll be the first to
make the 249-mile journey.
The event will raise funds for the Michael Magro Foundation,
a Hicksville-based organization that supports
children with cancer, pediatric cancer survivors, and
their families.
“The work they do is incredible, and they’re really small
so I wanted to help them,” Gillman says. “They help offset
costs for those families.”
The mission will also benefit Bees Trees Water, a New
York-based nonprofit that helps bring clean drinking
water to small villages overseas suffering from the
global water crisis, among other environmental efforts
to financially support those villages.
Now that he has more time, Gillman says he welcomes
Long Island charities to reach out to him if they would
like him to fundraise for them through his missions.
Businesses can also volunteer to sponsor his missions.
“I want them to reach out to help and be a part of it,” he
says. “It’s just me, so it’s a personal thing and makes a
difference.”
Learn more about Gillman at drivenbyendurance.com.
Andrew Gillman. (Credit: Alex M Wolff Photography)
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