Friends,
The Outreach is feeling kind of lucky!
The success of any golf outing is predicated on the weather and we could not have asked for a more perfect day and night on May 22nd. Our Outreach Center Summer Camp Golf Outing fundraiser was a complete success as 132 golfers and an additional 45 dinner guests packed the venue while the three piece band played outside adding a festive atmosphere to the event. This year, we honored Rich Schaffer for his 20 year plus years of personal support and guidance, Cathy Jessop from St Anne’s Parish for her support and client facing volunteer hours, and the entire Fiorini family for their 38 years of support to the Outreach; we also used this opportunity to recognize a few of our many sponsors and supporters. The 50/50 raffle grossed a record $8,000; also, the winner turned out to be a former scholarship camper from over 30 years ago, who now lives in Babylon and has a successful career. The main purpose of the golf outing is to provide funds for the Summer Camp so that campers who cannot afford the minimal subsidized registration fees will have the opportunity to attend camp and enjoy summer activities as any kid should.
We were even luckier with the PAL/ First Precinct/ Outreach Center soccer clinic. For the nine Mondays of the clinic, no matter how much rain and wind there was on the prior weekend or even Monday morning, at 6:00 PM, the sun came out and the wind stopped at Wyandanch Park for the 110 registered children. Everyone including the police officers, coaches, the players and the parents enjoyed the clinic every week. Our end of season BBQ was scheduled for this past Monday at the Outreach from 5;00 to 8:00 PM and again heavy rain was forecasted. However, with the history of the clinic Mondays, we decided to proceed with confidence and did not feel a drop of rain until 8:00 PM when we were leaving the parking lot. Over 220 people were in attendance including siblings, parents, or guardians; we served 100 slices of pizza, 120 empanadas, 300 hotdogs, 268 hamburgers, cookies, watermelon and ices. Each child was awarded a Soccer medal by a Suffolk County Police Officer and had their photo taken, while their proud parents cheered in the background.; this community based clinic is a lot more than just soccer. Special thanks to all the cops and coaches that come back every year to share their love and knowledge with our young players.
With the alarming smoke levels from the Canadian wildfires two weeks ago, one outside food distribution facility was forced to close. They called the Outreach and we offered to handle their food distribution from the Outreach Center; in total, we served an additional 187 people (106 adults and 81 children) with food last week.
Special thanks to optometrist Dr. Mario Craig for his involvement and passion to help; Dr. Craig again has gone above and beyond the normal level of care for one of our clients. His office staff at Lindy Eye Care actually offered to pay for a cab to get this client to the office and back home since I was out of state during this emergency. Thanks again to Dr. Craig and his staff at Lindy Eye Care in Lindenhurst!
You hear of the good stories and events in these updates, but not all stories are good or have happy endings. These are the ones that keep us up at night knowing what some people go through, and the pain they feel. Special thanks and acknowledgement to Wyandanch School District Social Worker, Kelly Urena who has seen or heard it all and keeps a very positive attitude. She answers most of her incoming phone calls from children with “right now, are you safe?” It takes a special person to live this life every day and affect so many young lives. Good for her!
Summer Camp starts Today!
Joe
