Blog

Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Kelly La Forgia

What better way to celebrate living quarter of a century than completing a goal of running your first full marathon? At least that’s what Kelly LaForgia thinks! At 25 years old she considers herself a lifetime avid, completing various half marathons over the years. She’s now ready to take on a greater challenge. Since she…

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Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Kathryn Metz

For 11 years Kathryn volunteered in Chappaqua, New York as a firefighter. It was there where she met and fell in love with her husband! He is still active today and is the former chief. Her time in the Chappaqua Fire Department showed her how incredible the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and all other emergency service…

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Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Matthew Macina

Growing up on Staten Island Matthew was always athletic but never very interested in running. It wasn’t until after graduating college, when he no longer had the lacrosse team to keep him busy, that his interest in running really started to form. From there he worked his way up race difficulty levels to run his first NYC…

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Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Melissa Halversen

Melissa is running the NYC marathon in honor of her father, James Halversen. James started his career as an FDNY firefighter in 1992 and served until he passed away in 1997. Since then Melissa and her family have stayed close to the FDNY as a fire family. She wants the people of other fallen first…

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Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Tom Lucchesi

  Tom Lucchesi started his first responder career as a Police Officer for four years before switching to his current profession as a firefighter with the City of Newburgh Fire Department. He has been a firefighter for the past 12 years. This is Tom’s first marathon and he thinks of it as a bucket list…

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Meet our 2018 Marathon Team: Nichole Smith

Nichole Smith is a daughter, niece and wife of first responders all over the country. She recently moved from Seattle with her husband to New York where her husband will be joining the law enforcement community. Her husband’s Aunt, Moria Smith was in the NYPD. Moira Smith was the only female NYPD officer to make…

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Recap: 34th Annual Game & Family Day

Baseball, barbeque, & bonding! On June 27th, 2018, we celebrated our 34th Annual Game and Family Day at Citi Field. Approximately one thousand members of families we serve, board members, community leaders, supporters, and volunteers came together to gather in the Bullpen Plaza and then cheer on the Mets as they took on the Pittsburgh…

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Our Founder: Daniel J. “Rusty” Staub (1944-2018)

Daniel J. “Rusty” Staub was a legend on and off the baseball field. During his illustrious Major League Baseball career, Rusty played for the Houston Astros, the Montreal Expos, the Texas Rangers, the Detroit Tigers, and twice with the New York Mets. The decorated slugger was a six-time All Star and has been inducted into…

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Remembering and Honoring our Founder and Friend, Rusty Staub

  Message from Our Chairman: Late last night, we lost our founder, our friend and a pillar of the community. For more than thirty years, Rusty dedicated his life to helping others.  He worked tirelessly on behalf of the widows, widowers, and children of New York City’s fallen heroes.  Due to his vision and his leadership, the NY Police and…

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Our Prayers are with Rusty

“Rusty is a beloved, revered and larger than life figure at  the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. He is held in the highest esteem by our Board as well as the widows, widowers and children of fallen first responders whom we have served for decades. Our prayers are with Rusty…

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Meet Our Marathon Team: Megan Breen

Megan Breen is a police officer in Yonkers, NY that is currently assigned to the motorcycle unit and has been running since her high school days. Back then she used to run at night to relieve stress and to clear her head, it was a way for her to escape and provided her with time…

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