Boone distributes free meals, Yankees tix to Bronx kids
8
2019 4,August EEKLY W BRONX com BXTimes.or 49th Precinct Community
www.Council meeting, until
very recently when she became
ill.
“She would always say
what needed to be said in a
very respectful way,” said
Ferrara, recalling that
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
July 4 at the age of 70.
“She did anything she
she was a fi ghter not only
Marie Hilda Santillana,
Santillana became Sergeant
could to help the community,”
for her community, but
founding board member of
at Arms of the VNNA
said Ferrera. “She
for herself as she battled
Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance,
when it was founded in
was like the eyes and ears
breast cancer and other illnesses.
is being mourned in
2010, said Bernadette Ferrara,
of Van Nest.”
her Van Nest community
VNNA president of the
Ferrara recalled that
Bon Nolan, VNNN senior
after her passing on Thursday,
organization.
she never missed a VNNA
advisor, said that
she was especially active
in fi nding families to
give donated turkeys to at
Thanksgiving and locating
families in Van Nest who
needed toys at Christmas.
Her son Thomas Santillana
said that his mother
succumbed to COPD, a
breathing ailment, after
surviving three heart surgeries
in addition to breast
cancer. She worked for
many years at a concrete
company in New Jersey, he
said.
Her son said he wasn’t
sure what motivated his
mom’s service to her community,
but said that she
her son. “We never really
inspired his own civic engagement.
talked about why she did
it, but I am just glad that
“She just loved helping
she did.”
out her neighbors,” said
He recalled her as a
devotion. strong disciplinarian
and added that his family
would support an effort to
memorialize her community
BY ALEX MITCHELL
After suffering a setback
on the road in Boston over
the weekend, the fi rst place
New York Yankees and manager
Aaron Boone were hungry
to return to the Bronx.
Inspired by that famished
sentiment, the skipper
spent his Tuesday, July
30 handing out free meals to
kids in the south Bronx at
the Mullaly Park Pool next
to Yankee Stadium on River
Avenue.
Along with a refreshing
meal on a scorching summer’s
day, those children
lucky enough to meet and
greet with Boone also received
two vouchers for Yankees
tickets at a later date.
“It means the world to
me that I could walk over
from work for a little while
and share the summer with
you,” Boone said in a shaded
pavilion next to the park’s
shallow pool.
“I look out there and see
a future shortstop or maybe
a second baseman or even
centerfi elder out there,” the
manager playfully noted in
a mock prospect search.
Although, after an uneventful
trade deadline for
the Bombers perhaps the
manager should have been
scouting for some bullpen
support as well.
Bronx Parks Commissioner
Iris Rodriguez Rosa
joined Boone in explaining
to the borough’s youth how
important it is to access a
nutritious meal.
She along with Councilwoman
Vanessa Gibson explained
that the Bronx has
about 80 free meal sites for
children 18 and under to
make use of.
The program is a partnership
with Hunger Free
America and American
Dairy to bring free, healthy
meals to not only the Bronx
but also New York City as a
whole.
“To see some of the kids
in the community that are
taken advantage of get a free
nutritious meal that’s so
important to their development…
not only physically
but mentally,” Boone said.
In addition to the food
and ticket vouchers, a
signed jersey from the Yankee
manager was distributed
during the meal sharing
as well.
“Hopefully that’s just an
added bonus to what today
can be about,” Boone added.
For the rest of August,
the Yankees will be offering
up free meals and
ticket vouchers to a starting
lineup of Bronx kids at pools
around the borough.
First at Van Courtlandt
Pool on Tuesday, August 6,
followed by Mapes Pool on
Tuesday, August 13, then
Crotona Pool on Tuesday,
August 20 with a stop at the
Morris Houses on Tuesday,
August 27.
Aaron Boone speaks to Bronx
kids, on the importantance of
nutrition. The Bronxer Yankees Manager Aaron Boone hands out free meals to Bronx kids at Mullaly Pool. The Bronxer
Van Nest community activist
Marie Santillana passes, 70
Marie Santillana (front, second from 1) attends the 2018 VNNA annual fundraiser.
Photo courtesy of Bernadette Ferrara
Marie Santillana, one of the founding board members of the Van
Nest Neighborhood Alliance, passed away recently. She is pictured
here after receiving an award from Borough President Ruben Diaz
Jr. with VNNA leader Bernadette Ferrara (c) and a representative
of the borough president. Photo courtesy of Bernadette Ferrara
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