Community Raises More than $260,000 For Children’s Cancer Research
It was standing room only as hundreds of members of the Floral Park community went bald for a good cause last month at Trinity’s Restaurant in Floral Park. The annual St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser was truly a community-wide fundraising effort, with residents old and young, members of the fire and police departments, as well as students from local schools, braving a shave for children’s pediatric cancer research.
For the past three years, Floral Park resident and shavee Bob GaNun has been in charge of the annual fundraiser and volunteered his time to rally the local community to participate. GaNun, who was recruited by Rev. John O’Farrell, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Floral Park, was hopeful that this year’s fundraising totals would exceed the previous years. In 2010, 104 shavees participated in the event and raised $126,000. As of press time, 215 shavees participated and donations have reached an all-time high of $263,000.
Raising more than a quarter of a million dollars for this important cause was something GaNun said he couldn’t even have imagined happening. “It’s mind boggling. We doubled what we had for last year,” he said. GaNun said he was equally amazed by the outpouring of support from all the people who help make Floral Park the special community that it is.
What made the event truly memorable was that students and classmates came out to shave their heads in honor of Aiden Binkley, formerly of Floral Park, who passed away at age 11 last December due to Rhabdomysosarcoma. Aiden’s entire family including his younger brother, Jake, attended the event. Jake led his team, Friends of Aiden Binkley, to victory being the top earner, according to GaNun.
Mike McGuire, owner of Trinity’s Restaurant in Floral Park, generously lent the use of space to host the event for the third time, providing food for about 300-plus people all night long. “I am really overwhelmed by the outpouring from the community and the organization and the GaNuns and the volunteers. It’s humbling to see the generosity and the volunteerism,” McGuire said.
With nearly 1,000 people stopping in, staff at Trinity’s had to remove the furniture to make room for the big crowds. “It was overwhelming to see the 50 or 60 kids who came on two firetrucks and a lot of them were Aiden’s classmates. There was a grown woman and girl who got their heads shaved, which, obviously, was an even bigger gesture for a female. They were fantastic as well,” McGuire said.
GaNun thanked the many people who made the day possible, including Father O’Farrell, Mike McGuire, Billy Bedell, Tom Weissler, Kate Mitchell, Floral Park Police Commissioner Stephen McAllister, as well as all the shavees and volunteers.
To learn more about St. Baldrick’s Foundation, visit the website at www.st baldricks.org.
