As a CPA at Ernst & Young, a runner, and a volunteer for Answer the Call’s Junior Committee, Lauren Koslow keeps busy. Often finding herself not having any free time to run until late at night. This will be Lauren’s first marathon and it has her friends questioning her sanity. She has always felt an…
This will be Kylene’s second marathon, the first one taking place only this past April in New Jersey. She thought of it as a warm up for the NYC marathon. She knows that sounds slightly crazy but wanted to ease her nerves going into such a well known race. Running the NYC marathon has been…
Last year, brothers Sean (age 6) and Kyle (age 4) decided they wanted to have a lemonade stand in their grandmother’s front yard. Most kids want to keep the profits, to buy a new set of legos or an ice cream cone, but not these kids. When their mother, Debi Griffin, suggested the idea of…
All marathon runners have a huge goal they share, however, one runner has that goal x 50. Jackie Lockwood has a mission to run a marathon in every state totaling 1,310 miles! Jackie started racing only 4 years ago and has thus far completed 7 marathons. She has checked off Rhode Island, New Jersey, Vermont,…
Matthew was always fascinated by Police Officers, viewing them as superheroes, people who can do it all. It was always his dream to join these superheroes and this dream became reality only two months after graduating college. Matthew Doherty is now a detective for the New York City Police Department. He has had the pleasure…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
