On the Avenue: Kiwanians support Tunnel to Towers
Members of the Kiwanis Club of Bensonhurst & Bay Ridge welcomed two very special guests from the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to their Sept. 20 meeting “on the avenue” at Cebu Bar & Bistro. John LaBarbera and Joe Criscitello spoke about the foundation’s ongoing efforts to provide smart homes to veterans who have suffered catastrophic injuries in combat. Each home built through the foundation’s efforts is tailored to that particular veteran’s needs, LaBarbera told the club members.
Tunnel to Towers honors the life of firefighter Stephen Siller, who raced with 60 pounds of equipment on his back through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers and gave his life in an effort to save others on Sept. 11, 2001.
As a show of support for the foundation, Ben-Bay Kiwanis President Thomas Aellis was proud to announce that dozens of individual members of the club had each agreed to provide the foundation’s requested $11 per month donation for a full year. Aellis surprised LaBarbera and Criscitello with a giant check totaling $7,000 right then and there.