Gabriel’s Giving Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden, located at the Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate, 550 South Bay Avenue in Islip, offers a peaceful space for reflection and healing. Above, volunteers do a spring clean-up. Photo courtesy of Gabriel’s Giving Tree
Gabriel’s Giving Tree (GGT) was founded by grandmother Paulette Phillippe and the Phillippe family in loving memory of Gabriel, their cherished son and grandson. Created to help families mourn with dignity and heal with hope, GGT offers both financial assistance and heartfelt compassion to those grieving the loss of a loved one due to substance use.
Gabriel’s Giving Tree provides direct support to Long Island families who are unable to afford funeral and burial expenses following a death related to substance use. The organization also assists families struggling to navigate the complex and often overwhelming realities of substance use disorders.
The compassion of GGT extends well beyond financial aid.
GGT conducts two grief support groups: At THRIVE on the third Friday of every month at 7 p.m., located at 1324 Motor Parkway, Islandia. Call 631-822-3396 for more information. On the first Thursday of each month at East End THRIVE, the group meets at 6:30 p.m., located at 680 Elton Street in Riverhead. Call 631-822-3397 for more information.
Newly bereaved families can also receive a thoughtfully curated “comfort gift box,” designed to offer solace during the early days of grief. Each box includes a daily meditation book, a teacup and tea, a lavender sachet, a memory book, a painted rock, a condolence card, handmade beads from The Beading Hearts, and a list of helpful resources.
“It means so much for someone to know they are not alone,” said founder Paulette Phillippe. “We hope this small gesture brings a sense of comfort during such a painful time.”
GGT also invites the community to visit the Gabriel’s Giving Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden, located at the Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate, 550 South Bay Avenue, Islip. The garden offers a peaceful space for reflection and healing, featuring trees dedicated to loved ones who have passed, individuals in recovery, and a Unity Tree that honors shared hope.
“The Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden are especially dear to our hearts,” Phillippe said. “So many healing stories have unfolded in this sacred space we call the ‘Recovery Site.’”
The garden is also home to a “wind phone, ”an old rotary telephone that is not connected to any line. Visitors are invited to pick up the receiver and speak to loved ones who are no longer physically present.
“I believe deeply in the importance of ritual grieving and speak to my grandson Gabe every day,” said Phillippe. “But picking up the phone allowed me not only to talk to Gabriel, but to listen for him. It became a touching conversation filled with love. It truly works.”
Gabriel’s Giving Tree operates under the umbrella of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD). For more information about GGT call 631-786-0368 or email Gabriel.givingtree@gmail.com, or visit:https://licadd.org/ggt
If you know someone on Long Island who has recently lost a child to overdose and would like a comfort box sent to them, please contact Carole Trottere at 631-275-5277. Due to limited resources, comfort boxes are currently available only to Long Island families.
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