You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the area who has devoted more years to volunteering or worn more hats as a volunteer than Al Cullinane.

Over the decades, Cullinane has done virtually everything in service to his neighbors. A retired Oceanside Middle School Spanish teacher who, with his wife, Ann, raised two daughters in Oceanside, Cullinane has been the backbone of such service organizations as Oceanside Community Service (OCS) and the Kiwanis Club for more than a half-century. He has been heavily involved in Parish Outreach, the St. Vincent De Paul Society, the Interfaith Council at St. Anthony's Church and the Knights of Columbus, Long Island Cares and Catholic Charities.

The responsibilities he has assumed in these organizations range from president to key organizer and scheduler to delivery man - often all at once. "He's Superman," said Seymour Mensch, who has worked alongside Cullinane in both the OCS and Kiwanis for 45 years. "Whatever comes up, he's there. Name an activity that's charitable and he's there."

And even at 79, Cullinane shows few signs of slowing down. He was among the OCS's original members when Walter S. Boardman, a former superintendent of Oceanside Schools, formed the group in the 1950s, the same years Cullinane joined Kiwanis. He took over the OCS helm in the 1970s, became president of Kiwanis in the early 1980s, and continues to be the driving force behind both organizations today.

The people OCS serves range from single-parent families to homebound seniors. Cullinane is usually tipped off by social workers. He will visit a family and learn about its situation, its financial status and other relevant factors. In a given year, Cullinane may meet with as many as 70 families, taking information about them back to the OCS and Kiwanis and instructing fellow volunteers on their needs. These can include warm clothing, money for rent, a tank of oil during the coldest months and, of course, food. Cullinane not only coordinates with the organizations that provide these necessities, such as local religious institutions and schools, but often buys the items himself, stocks them at Camp DeBaun in Oceanside, and keeps an inventory.

The OCS's main charitable drives are the food baskets (with toys) it provides to needy families during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah. Cullinane is on hand to oversee and help with the packing and distribution of the baskets to families in communities ranging from Oceanside to Rockville Centre to Roosevelt.

"Al is probably the single most important person involved with the OCS," said Bob Transom, president of the OCS and Kiwanis. "He's the man who has kept it going." Transom added that while many OCS members work hard, before they came along there was Cullinane, who set the standard. He worked relentlessly to build the resources of the OCS to the point where it has enough money and food to handle the tasks it takes on. "He expanded the food program and tweaked it so that it went from five to 10 families to an organization that is incorporated, has a charter and officers and goals," Transom explained.

Cullinane has had similar success with Kiwanis, specifically its upstate summer camp for kids, Kamp Kiwanis. His interviews with families have led him to determine that some parents need a break from their children, and that their kids enjoy a week away in the country. Through his leadership and his acquaintance with these families, he spearheaded the growth of Kamp Kiwanis from the one or two kids the club sent upstate two decades ago to the 12 children it sent up last summer and possibly 15 this year.

"This happened a lot through Al's efforts," said Syed Majid, a fellow Kiwanian. "He was always stressing to the officers the needs of the families and how this helps them in different ways, so that the officers would strive to do better and better. And that's when we started spiraling to four to six to 10 to 12 kids a summer."

Majid, who met Cullinane when he joined Kiwanis 18 years ago, describes him as a quiet, mild-mannered guy, the type who leads not by raising his voice, but by setting an example with his determination to get things done, even if that requires doing it alone. "Al always contributed vigor and vitality to the organization, and accomplishes many tasks simultaneously," Majid said. "For the years I've been with Kiwanis, he's the guy really holding it together. He performed just about every duty you can think of in every position you can think of."

Part of Cullinane's work at St. Anthony's involved his uniting the parish's St. Vincent DePaul food pantry with the food program at Long Island Cares. For the past eight years Cullinane has accepted the duties of checking on what surplus food LIC has available each week, arranging for deliveries, and occasionally driving out to Hauppauge to pick up the food himself. And, while coordinating OCS's Thanksgiving food basket program, he plans and organizes the holiday dinner for the homeless and lonely through Interfaith Council.

"Al is somebody who does what he does because he enjoys helping people," said Anna Sirianni, coordinator of Parish Outreach, "not because he wants the recognition."

But recognition has nonetheless found him. In 1979, Cullinane was named Citizen of the Year by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, and the Town of Hempstead honored him with its Make a Difference Award in 1997.

"He works very quietly, never seeking any accolades," said Edith DeBaun of Camp DeBaun.

When Cullinane isn't out volunteering, he spends time with his three grandchildren or out on the links. But despite shunning the limelight, he is well-known for his volunteer work, which also includes doing carpentry work or hauling stray furniture on his car for the needy. "Al is one of the best people I've ever known," said DeBaun. "He's kind, he's thoughtful, he's a very genuine person, and has a heart as big as his body."

His willingness to spend so much time and energy over the years helping others in his community makes Cullinane a natural choice for the Herald's Person of the Year.