The organ is the gift of Mrs. Norman N. Higgins of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. She originally gave the organ to an Episcopal congregation in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, but that congregation disbanded recently, making the organ available. She chose Good Shepherd Church here on Roosevelt Island, which makes the instrument available to the Island's Catholic parish and other groups, as well.

Residents are mounting a fund-raising effort to support the installation of the organ, with a first event scheduled tomorrow (Sunday, Dec, 3), 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. in the lower room at Good Shepherd. Carole Kennedy, former President of the Island Historical Society and an award-winning jewelry designer, is donating some of her own creations to be sold as part of the effort to raise cash. Gwendolyn Johnson Acsadi, who writes fiction as Gwynne Forster, is donating a carton of her recent novels, which she will autograph for buyers. Acsadi is a former United Nations senior officer who won awards for best public ethnic romance novel three years running, 1997-1999.