For the past eight years NYARM has made the Christmas season a time to remember for those children less fortunate than our own. With the aide of Nelson Davis as Santa Claus and first Niki Eisenstein, now Joan Saberito leading the cause, we have brought Christmas toys, cookies and good cheer to various organizations.
Last year we added two new schools that serve the mentally challenged children of New York. The New York Child Learning Institute in College Point, Queens came to our attention through Nelson Davis and Tom Browne of JAD Corporation of America. This small school of autistic children seeks to teach these special children language, social and academic skills. With NYARM’s $1500 contribution and Santa’s visit we made Christmas a little brighter for children and staff alike.
Our long time associate at Brooklyn Blue Feather, Sister Pat Lynch, was transferred to another school in the AHRC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children) family, AHRC at Francis of Paola. The NYARM Board of Directors felt a special kinship with Sister Pat and could not abandon her. They decided to enlarge the budget and include the children in her new school in our Christmas visits. This of course meant more work for Chairperson Joan Saberito, but she welcomed the challenge and couldn’t be happier with the decision.
The children at Francis of Paola are both mentally and physically challenged. On the whole, the children did not seem as severely handicapped as those children at Blue Feather. But they all react the same to Nelson "Santa Claus" Davis. With open arms they run to him, so happy to see the jolly man in red and white right there in their school. In expectation of his visit, some of the classes made pictures and cards for Santa and presented them to Nelson. One class arrived with red plastic noses, singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." This really touched us all.
But the Blue Feather school in downtown Brooklyn, its staff and children truly captured our hearts years ago. The school, located on Court Street in the shadow of the Gowannis Expressway, has a beautiful, but bare, backyard. Years ago NYARM undertook a tremendous project…to outfit their backyard with a modern, safe playground, and were confident, that the members of the association would support it with their usual enthusiasm and generosity. They did and we are pleased to announce the equipment is on order and should be delivered any day!
The wonderful people at New York Cares, heard about our plans at the November 1997 monthly meeting. They coordinated a mural artist, Jennifer Isaacs, and a group of volunteer painters to design and paint a colorful scene on the bare brick wall in the school's play yard. On Saturday, October 30, 1999 Joan Saberito, Michael Wegielski, Donna Klein and the New York Cares team brought that wall to life (see picture). We can't thank Jennifer, Mark and all the volunteers enough for bringing such joy to that gray backyard. Thanks to Ben Jacobson, Jacobson Painting for donating the paint and supplies.
Special thanks to Nelson Davis for being the one, true Santa Claus, Joan Saberito for all her hard work finding the perfect soft, stuffed animals and the members of NYARM who come to help Santa deliver his message of love and caring: Vince Callagy, Rochelle Captan, Ben Jacobson, Tom Maniuszko, Deborah Morrell, Wayne Reed, Barbara Sullivan and Michael Wegielski.
We also wish to thank anyone who ever bought a 50/50 raffle at a monthly meeting or dinner dance or donated a dollar or 500 dollars. Without your support this playground would never have materialized. Remember, every gift, every donation, no matter how small, is truly appreciated by the NYARM charity committee, the Board of Directors, the entire membership and of course, the children. Our fund continues so please direct all donations to NYARM, 853 Broadway, Suite 706, New York, NY 10003.
Watch this newspaper for information on delivery and installation. We will be having a opening day party to celebrate completion.