Schools

Fundraiser Aims to Help Sayville Teacher & Student

Chinese auction set for May 31 at West Lake from 7 p.m. to 11 pm.

The following is an open letter to the community from the organizers of the event. It was posted by Judy Mottl.

We are writing to you on the behalf of the Visone and Galarreta families.  Two of our own were diagnosed with brain cancer. For Joey Visone and Kara Galarreta, they are in for the fight of their lives.

We are asking our community to come out in support of Joey and Kara to help raise cancer awareness and assist them in their fight.  

 Kara Galarreta has been a dedicated teacher in Sayville for twenty years. She has taught Spanish and French at both the middle school and the high school. Kara is a single mother whose daughter, Gabriella, is a 7th grader at the middle school. Kara has been diagnosed with stage four brain cancer.

The type of webbed cancer that she has is both inoperable and incurable. She is currently undergoing costly medical treatment in the hopes of improving and extending the quality of her life.

As you can imagine, this has placed a huge financial and emotional burden on the family.   

Joey Visone is a 15 year old sophomore attending Sayville High School. He is an Honor Roll student and active member of our school community.

He is a member of the Sayville varsity football team and plays baseball in the Sayville Little League. Joey is a positive leader and a friend to many.  He is always there to help others regardless of the situation.

Unfortunately, Joey has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and now he needs our help!  
We have organized a Chinese Auction fundraiser for May 31 at West Lake from 7-11 pm. Your support will go a long way in helping to ease their families’ financial burdens and allow them to put all their foci and effort into battling this horrible disease.

We are hoping to gather 100 gift baskets for the auction.  If you are interested in putting together a gift basket (individually or in groups) or simply donating an item towards a gift basket, please contact Patty Patrizi (631)-244-6625 in the Athletic Office or Cell (631)-748-7332. There are other creative ways one can contribute to a "basket".

We have some individuals who are offering free SAT tutoring and others who are donating private lessons (music, sports) to be auctioned off that night.  Others have offered to donate professional sporting event tickets.  

In addition, you can make a tax deductible contribution to the Sayville Employee Charitable Foundation.

All donations in Joey’s and or Kara’s names will go directly to the families. All donation checks should be sent to Sayville High School to the attention of Stephanie Bricker, director of the foundation.  

One of the greatest aspects about the Sayville Community is its ability to rally together and help others in times of need. We believe that it is this intangible that makes Sayville unique. The support thus far has been overwhelming and the two families cannot thank the community enough for all their support.      

Sincerely,  
 The Fundraising Committee   “No One Fights Alone”


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