Letters

I first met Sara Topping over 10 years ago walking along Long Beach, in a walk for postpartum awareness hosted by Postpartum Support International. It was a time in my life when I was grasping for community; I was raising three babies under 4 years old and attempting to navigate this time in my life on the East End.

This search for community fostered my strong relationship with Sara. We both were passionate about creating safe, supportive spaces for members in our community who were navigating the early stages of parenthood and advocating for those within those spaces.

It was this passion that we both shared that concreted our friendship and working relationship. It also led to a great many important and amazing things, like: the creation of East End Birth Network, where I served as president under Sara’s executive directorship from 2018 to 2022; meeting with state legislator Fred Thiele and county legislator Bridget Fleming to discuss maternal mortality and morbidity rates in Suffolk County, which led to Sara sitting on the Maternal Health Coalition with Long Island Women’s Diversity Network and her testifying in front of the Suffolk County Legislature to petition for a bill in support of the Suffolk County Maternal Mortality Task Force; working together on the annual Homegrown Health Fair, creating a safe space for young families to find the resources and support needed here on the East End; creating the Stork Co-op, which provided baby and postpartum items to the underserved in our community.

Under Sara’s leadership and through her years of friendship, I am constantly reminded (and in awe of) how she always keeps her community as her “north star.” She is thoughtful, empathetic and thoroughly giving of her time and self to help those in our community, especially the underserved.

I am confident that Sara will bring her loving (and tireless) efforts to the office of Southampton Town Trustee, as I have witnessed firsthand for many years. Our children deserve to grow up and enjoy this special place we call home, just as we did. If elected to Town Trustee, this will be Sara’s “north star.”

Kate DeLalio Turza

East Quogue