Meet the Team

Samantha Morales founded Branches Long Island in October 2019. She is not new to helping the community though! She has done animal rescue for many years and previously worked as a veterinary technician. She also owns two businesses and is no stranger to hard work. With her humble, compassionate and easy going personality it’s no surprise Branches has grown into what it has today.

Samantha resides in Coram with her Husband Wayne and is a Mother of four beautiful children, Mollie, Jaxon, Myles and Roman. She has three dogs Kona, Gracie and Hoagie and has 15 chickens which she calls “her girls.”

When Samantha isn’t working or volunteering (which is rare) you can find her home with her family enjoying time outside together or taking a drive for ice cream.

As Sam always says “We got you always.”

I found Branches through Facebook and saw a friend of a friend with a non-profit that needed drivers to make deliveries. Me and my child (then 17) did our first deliveries of Easter Baskets and had so much fun that day, we were hooked! Now we deliver on almost every Sunday and at Thanksgiving.

My role at Branches has changed over the years. I not only deliver, I also volunteer at the Center on Wednesday nights, help behind the scenes with paperwork and organization and sit on the board— one of my favorite things to do is act as a personal shopper! I collect money from our generous donors in order to go shopping for the center! I have also been a personal shopper for folks wanting to sponsor Easter, Thanksgiving or Back To School but they weren’t close by or otherwise able to shop. I do this all while raising my child and working full time.

I enjoy attending our events–especially Halloween! I have been Minnie Mouse, a Lady Bug and a bumble bee handing out juice and candy to our twigs! I have made such wonderful friends during my time with Branches and can’t think of a better way to spend my time than with this amazing group.

Heather joined Branches in 2020. She was inspired by what the organization stood for and wanted to get involved. Heather has always had a passion for helping others and when she found Branches Of Long Island, it was a perfect fit.

Heather resides in Holbrook with her Husband Cliff, their son Logan and Havanese Maximus.

When Heather isn’t enjoying being a stay at home mom with Logan, she squeezes in doing the bookkeeping and accounting for two of the three businesses her and her husband own.

Genesis started with Branches as a volunteer during our annual Thanksgiving food drive. She immediately fell in love with Branches LI and their mission. Genesis is a Longwood graduate and has lived in this community for many years. She is currently working as an ultrasound technologist, so helping people in need has always been a passion. When Genesis is not working or volunteering she is spending quality time with her son. Meeting volunteers and building a relationship with them always puts a smile on her face.

Robin first started with Branches as our Shipt shopper back in November 2020, when covid started. She started working at Shipt and was motivated to make as many deliveries as she could because she knew so many could not leave their homes due to the pandemic. This is where she found Branches. With a true passion to help others she became a staff member and quickly realized this is what she was meant to do. She loves interacting with everyone that comes by and helping any way she can.

With more than 5 years of office manager experience and a desire to do something different she decided to start her own home-based business making cakes. Delicious tasty cakes with a lot of love and personality in them! She then shifted her focus to her family once she had her first baby. Now she resides in Coram with her beautiful family of 3 kids, Chance, Elijah and Skylah.

Paulette has been involved with Branches since its inception. She quickly became a dedicated volunteer and later joined our board as Treasurer. She has over 30 years of experience as a bookkeeper and was a Girl Scout leader for over 10 years.

She is now a Co-Coordinator of Longwood Girl Scouts.

She lives in Middle Island with her husband Danny and daughter Angelina, her 2 cats Buddy and Lucy and her 2 dogs Alexa and Gunther. She is also a certified therapy dog handler with her dog Alexa and enjoys her time with Love on a Leash visiting various places bringing joy and relief to those that need it.

Barbara Scheiber, Proud volunteer with Branches Long Island since 2020. Works at Northwell health hospice care network for 21 years. Lives in Patchogue. What I love most about Branches is it represents all that is still right with this world. It warms my heart to see the kindness and compassion people have for one another.