To Promote Upcoming Main Street Mile Race
Companions in Courage teams up with Dave and Busters in Farmingdale to promote Main Street Mile on Labor Day Weekend.
Dave and Busters in Farmingdale and Companions in Courage teamed up on Aug. 6 for a fundraiser to promote the Main Street Mile that will be held on Sept. 5, and to raise funds for Pat LaFontaine’s non-profit Companions in Courage Foundation.
Thanks to the generosity of Dave and Busters, one admission fee allowed participants to play games for two hours, participate in a great raffle and silent auction of memorabilia (conducted by Living Legends of Bellmore), have light snacks, and meet former Islanders Pat LaFontaine and Jean Potvin, who both took questions of the 100 attendees later in the evening.
“It was a great and fun evening that helped to raise funds for a great cause” said Mark Leff, co-race director for the Main Street Mile, who hosted the event. “Economic times are challenging for many people today, but we can not forget those in need and the great work Pat LaFontaine does with CiC for children’s hospitals. This event made for a fun evening to benefit such a great cause while being very affordable. Given the feedback we got, we hope this event with Dave and Busters also becomes a yearly tradition along with the Main Street Mile. ”
Proceeds from both the Dave and Busters fundraiser and the Main Street Mile will benefit CiC. As seen at www.cic16.org, CiC raises funds to build interactive playrooms in children’s hospitals throughout North America. Through innovative communications tools, these playrooms are meant to replace the isolation of a hospital with a connection to family, friends and celebrities during their hospital stay. This effort paves the way for their motto, “No child in the fight for life or health should ever have to go it alone.”
The rooms, dubbed “the Lion’s Den”, have state-of-the-art technology from Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Full Armour Software. Patients receive a “smart” card when they check into the hospital, identifying them as members of a special community with unique privileges. The key is an ID device that allows each child to personalize their experience within the Lion’s Den room with activities such as web surfing, video game playing and video-conferencing. Cisco’s WebEx video conference technology allows for children to communicate with family, friends, athletes and celebrities while in the hospital (including another visit from Santa Claus that will take place in some of the CiC hospital rooms on Dec. 9), and Microsoft also provides Xbox units that can be wheeled to a child’s beside, also while in the hospital.
Lion’s Den at Huntington Hospital recently opened, joining other installations including Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. Over the past year, CiC has started to expand its efforts around the United States and Canada, opening up Lion’s Den room at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL (sponsored by the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Franchise), Panama City, FL (sponsored by Ironman North America) and St. Justine’s Children’s Hospital in Montreal (sponsored by the National Hockey League) Plans are in place to open additional room in cities including Philadelphia and Boston.
This year’s Main Street Mile will be held Saturday Sept. 5 in Farmingdale. The co-title sponsors for the event are Bob Cook of the Runners Edge and Dave and Busters. The event has strong local representation with other sponsors that include Dr. Larry Lembo, a Farmingdale-based chiropractor; Carter, DeLuca, Farrell and Schmidt of Melville, Henry Schein, Inc. of Melville, Cisco Systems, Stop & Shop (who once again will very generously donate all the water and fruit given to race participants for the Main Street Mile); The Library Café of Farmingdale; Wikham, Bressler, Gordon and Geasa of Melville, NY; Anheuser Busch; The Farmingdale Observer; Dr. Jospeh Ciaccio, DDS of Hewlett; Long Island Triathlon Coach; The Nutty Irishman of Farmingdale; Bill Romas, LMT; Jeffery Frey of SBRLI.com (who will generously donate his time to be the race photographer); and Mejias, Milgrim and Alvarado of Glen Cove. There will also be a kid’s Fun Run where the younger participants run a quarter-mile up and down Main Street and received medals and free ice cream.
“There is no better way to kick off the Labor Day weekend than to see families competing and enjoying the Main Street Mile,” said Pat LaFontaine, former NY Islander and Hockey Hall of Famer, and founder of CiC. “Not only do they get to enjoy a healthy afternoon with their friends and neighbors, but they are also helping improve the lives of hospitalized children. We can’t thank the volunteers enough who made this fundraising event and the Main Street Mile so special.”
“Dave & Buster’s is committed to giving back to our communities,” said Greg Corbly, general manager of Dave and Busters in Farmingdale. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Pat LaFontaine and the Companions in Courage Foundation. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Main Street Mile on Sept. 5.”
The Main Street Mile takes place on September 5, with the kid’s ¼ mile fun run at 3:30 p.m. and first wave of the 1 mile race down Main Street going off at 4:15 p.m., The course start is in front of the main entrance to Bethpage Park, it is flat and fast. Both competitive and recreational runners have enjoyed this event, which is now in its fifth year, a Labor Day tradition in Farmingdale that is a lot of fun and very well attended.
“We really appreciated the support and turnout for the event at Dave and Busters, and thank them for their generosity” Leff added. “We are very excited about this year’s Main Street Mile, now in its 5th year, and look forward to another great day for the Farmingdale community.”
For more information on how to register for the Main Street Mile on Sept. 5, contact Runners Edge at 516-420-7963, or register directly on Active.com at http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1760503.
For more information on Companions in Courage visit their website at http://www.cic16.org.
