• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Hope For the Holidays

Posted: Dec 14th 2006 By: CMBurnham

Even though Jeanin Urbina endured the Wednesday-evening traffic on the BQE - and the iffy weather - to head into Dumbo, a trendy section of Brooklyn, the trip was worth it. There were music, cocktails and celebrities to be seen at Toro, a hip restaurant at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, but the 19-year-old Baldwin resident wasn't simply looking for the latest hot spot that night. Rather, she wanted to show her support for the troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Exactly two years earlier to the day - Nov. 29, 2004 - Urbina and her family had received the devastating news that her older brother, Army Spc. Wilfredo Urbina, 29, had been killed in Iraq. Though her family chose to reflect privately this year, Urbina said she was compelled to show her support at a United Service Organizations fund-raiser, "Hope for the Holidays," as a way to honor her brother. "I felt if my brother were alive, he would have come here," she said. "A lot of these guys put their lives on the line every day for us, and I think it's important to see people supporting the troops."

Urbina was one of more than 200 people who attended the fund-raiser, a benefit concert and auction for the USO's "Operation Care Package." The program was created to supply troops with simple items and necessities such as prepaid international calling cards, disposable cameras, toiletries, sunscreen and messages of support, among other items.

The event, which raised over $35,000, was led in part by Daniel Rodriguez, best known as the "singing policeman" and "America's tenor," whose uplifting performances of "God Bless America" after 9/11 made him famous.

Also involved in the effort was ArtAID, a Baldwin-based not-for-profit organization that has partnered with the USO to create artwork for the care packages and to insert uplifting messages to the soldiers.

ArtAID, which is best known for its memorial angels to fallen police officers and firefighters - as well as its gigantic "Never Forget" banner at ground zero - produced "We Support Our Troops" cards for the soldiers. The prints feature the Statue of Liberty, the American flag and an uplifting prayer on the back.

With a donation of $25, anyone can sponsor a care package, and include a message of support and encouragement for the troops. "It's an opportunity for people - private citizens - to provide support for a meaningful project," said Keith Piaseczny, who creates the works for ArtAID. "In the case of what we're doing, it's something inspirational."

Rodriguez and Tony Scialdone, ArtAID's founder and the owner of Millennium Protective Services in Baldwin, have been working together for the past three years on the care packages. Each year they travel to Virginia, along with hundreds of volunteers, to create the packages at the USO warehouse. But this was the first time the two, who grew up together in Brooklyn, held a fund-raiser for the event.
"Danny was there for everybody," Scialdone said. "We thought that this was a great building block, possibly leading to other USO fund-raisers."


Rodriguez, who performed several songs at the event with the USO Girls' "United We Sing," has used his newfound celebrity to promote several good causes since 9/11, and for the past three years he has helped raise money for the USO. This holiday season, he said, the USO has met its goal of 50,000 care packages for the troops in Iraq, which began shipping out this month.

"The USO has come a long way since Bob Hope was entertaining overseas," Rodriguez said. "Now the USO takes care of the soldiers, it takes care of their families. I'm proud to be a part of that."

Rodriguez said that care packages send a piece of home to troops in a war zone far from home, and that things like playing cards can provide recreation and escape when things are slow. Rodriguez has two nephews and two cousins serving in Iraq, and has traveled to the Middle East to perform for the troops. He has friends who have been seriously injured and others that have been killed, so for him the initiative is personal.

"It really hits homes," he said. "This is not about fame or fortune, but emanating good, positive energy and hoping that it affects people."

Rodriguez and ArtAID's endeavors have caught the eye of many people, and a number of celebrities, politicians and others were on hand Nov. 29. Among those were WWE wrestling icon and Bethpage native Mick Foley - best known as Mankind and Cactus Jack - who met Rodriguez through the USO. Foley, who has visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the past three years, says the care packages have had a tremendous impact on their morale.

"I got to know some of the troops, and it seemed to brighten their spirits - their attitudes brightened," Foley said. "It's a little piece of home and it reminds them that people care. The troops themselves have different feelings about the war, and they really just want to know that people out there support them."

Aside from Foley, most people at the event had a personal connection to the war, or to 9/11. Among those were Baldwin resident Bob Beckwith, a retired firefighter who stood with President Bush at ground zero shortly after the attacks, an image that was seen around the world; and Marcelo Pevida, the owner of Toro and a former NYPD officer who was nearly killed when the twin towers collapsed.

"Part of the second plane's fuselage landed on my car," Pevida said, pointing to a photo on the wall of his crushed police cruiser. "I try to donate to events like this because I know how important it is."

Pevida said that a number of NYPD officers who also serve in the military are being recalled to Iraq, including a close friend of his. "He needs as much support as he can get," Pevida said.

In addition to entertainment and food, there was an auction to raise money for the program. Items included sports memorabilia, such as a rare piece of artwork featuring Joe DiMaggio and signed by the Yankee great, which fetched $1,700, as well as other sports and patriotic artwork that sold for thousands of dollars.

The final item put up for bid was an exclusive performance by Rodriguez, who promised to sing at the highest bidder's home or at a private event. The minimum bid: $5,000. "Will anyone give $5,000?" Rodriguez asked earnestly.

For a moment there was silence, but before long Mick Foley raised his hand and made the bid, to an eruption of cheers and applause. "No way," Rodriguez said with a laugh. "I'm going to Mick's house!"

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.usocarepackage.org. For more information about ArtAID, visit www.artaid.org