Neighbors: Susan Levine

When Longboater Susan Levine retired from her full-time job in health-care marketing in 1998, it wasn’t to eat bonbons and lounge on the couch. Levine became a community activist for social justice.

“There’s just so much work to do!” she says.

Since her 2005 breast-cancer diagnosis, Levine has dedicated her life to becoming “a one-person crusader” for causes that advance the wellbeing of women.

“You get a diagnosis like that and you think, ‘What about that next birthday or anniversary?’” she says. “It’s like the calendar ends because you can’t see past that day.”

Levine is lucky; she is a survivor. She had early detection, no cancer in her lymph nodes, she was post-menopausal, and her doctor was aware of some groundbreaking tests. She also didn’t need chemotherapy on top of radiation.

“Lucky is a good thing!” she says.

She joined the Northeast Ohio Susan G. Komen affiliate soon after her recovery and traveled the country to share her story. She was also the only breast-cancer survivor to serve on the affiliate board, and she took advantage of an opportunity to make a difference by educating people.

“It really made me think: How was I going to proceed with the rest of my life?” she says.

Levine had already been doing grassroots work in Ohio before she was diagnosed and even before her retirement.

She worked with organizations whose core missions were economic empowerment, equal pay for equal work, promoting/protecting the vote, supporting female government candidates and more.

Levine is serving her second term on the National Board of the National Council of Jewish Women. She travels to New York and Washington, D.C., to speak up on women’s economic empowerment, social justice for women and women’s issues.

This year, she opened her home for the Longboat Key Garden Club’s Home and Garden Tour, because, according to her, the club does good work for the community. She also hosted a trunk-show boutique to raise funds for the Southwest Florida Susan G. Komen affiliate, and she co-chaired the raffle and auction committee for Go for the Cure Sports Day at the Longboat Key Club. She appreciates that the money raised is used in the local community, and she knows it makes a huge impact here.

“When you do this grassroots work, you’re really doing work in these (area) people’s lives,” she says. “I see it as paying it forward.”

Levine has pure compassion in her voice when she speaks about her causes, and she uses hand motions to get her point across. Her face is sincere, and she leans forward when she really gets going.

“If I know I help just one more person get to a doctor in time or if I can provide books for a group of school children,” she pauses as if she’s going to follow with the words, “then I’ve done my part.”

But Levine is driven to do even more.

Instead, she says, “I have more work to get done, that’s for sure!”