I became a New York Yankees fan at 8 years of age….approximately the minute I found out that my father rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers (that is what passed for childhood rebellion in those days).
I have stayed with them through thick and thin (mostly thick, I\’m happy to say) ever since.
Well, here is my latest reason to root for the Yankees, via Bill Madden and Teri Thompson\’s article in today\’s New York Daily News. I hope you agree that it is an infinitely more substantial one:
Yankeeowner George Steinbrenner died in 2010, but his appreciation for themen and women in blue who protect New York City lives on.
For32 years, Steinbrenner\’s Yankee Silver Shield Foundation has providedfor the education of the children of New York City police officers,firemen and Port Authority employees who died in the line of duty,and will do so for the family of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, gunneddown by a cold-blooded killer Saturday along with his partner,Wenjian Liu.
Thefoundation will pay for the education of Ramos\’ son, 13-year-oldJaden, and another son, Justin, who attends Bowdoin College in Maine.
“Who\’sgoing to take care of these kids,” Steinbrenner asked hisfriend, former Olympian Jim Fuchs, who would run the foundation untilhis death, also in 2010. “We are.”
Thefoundation, now run by Fuchs\’ daughter Casey, has paid for theeducations of thousands of children of fallen NYPD, FDNY, statepolice and Port Authority workers in the tri-state area, as well as700 children who lost a parent in the terrorists attacks on Sept. 11,2001.
Contributionscan be made to: Silver Shield Foundation, 870 United Nations Plaza,1st Floor, New York, NY, 10017.
Please take special note of how you can contribute to this eminently worthwhile foundation.
It\’s not like the scum whose actions culminated in these deaths are going to be funding the families of dead police officers any time soon.
