Letters

The No. 1 question that I have received since I decided to run for Southampton Town Trustee is: Why are you running?

For me, the answer is simple. I have a deep love and commitment to this place and its people. I have spent the majority of my adult life dedicated to the betterment of our local community.

At the age of 16, I became an ocean lifeguard and worked for a decade at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett. I later taught as a junior lifeguard instructor and was an inaugural member of the East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue Squad. This summer, I was proud to lead the Junior Lifeguard Groms program at Coopers Beach, teaching 8-to-12-year-olds the importance of ocean safety, some of the most rewarding work I have done.

In 2008, my first step into advocacy was joining a group called the Climate Ride, biking from New York City to Washington, D.C., to bring awareness to the coastal impact that extreme weather events have on communities like ours.

In 2017, I co-founded the East End Birth Network, a nonprofit that focused on maternal and infant health on the East End and across New York State. In 2021, I testified in front of the Suffolk County Legislature in support of Long Island’s first Maternal Mortality Task Force, and during COVID our team launched a mother and baby pantry called the Stork Co-op that delivered diapers and new or gently used donated baby and postpartum care items to families in need all across the East End.

My desire to care for this place, its people and its environment runs deep. My husband and I are committed to raising our children with the same dedication and respect for our environment that we grew up with. As a community, we are only as healthy as the environment around us, and my hope is to keep this place as vibrant and special as it was for me growing up for the next generations to come.

I respectfully ask for your vote in this upcoming November 4 election for Southampton Town Trustee.

Sara Topping

Southampton