AUGUST 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 25
PRESS BUSINESS
MICHAEL MAGRO FOUNDATION
FIGHTING PEDIATRIC CANCER
BY DANA CHIUEH
Terrie Magro’s family was dealt the unthinkable
in 2004: their two children
both received cancer diagnoses within
months of each other. Just a few months
later, Michael, age 13, passed away from
acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
“Cancer and children should never be
in the same sentence,” Magro, vice president
of the Michael Magro Foundation,
said at a fundraising event last October.
Through the nonprofit foundation, established
in 2005, the Magros’ strength
and compassion against a backdrop
of unimaginable tragedy continues to
resound. For 15 years, the family-run organization’s
focus on relief for pediatric
cancer patients and their families has
resulted in more than $2 million directly
donated towards entertainment for
patients, funding for their families’ gas,
food, utilities, or pharmaceutical bills,
and resources assisting with patients’
re-entry into the public school system.
The foundation also funds two scholarships
a year in Michael’s memory
to students at Hicksville High School,
where Michael would have graduated
in the Class of 2009.
It’s fitting that, unbeknownst to them,
the foundation’s last fundraiser, held
before statewide quarantine was
imposed, the annual Magro Madness
event on March 7.
“Michael’s favorite two sports were
lacrosse and basketball,” his mother
explained, passions to which the foundation
owes its largely athletics-themed
fundraisers and logo, which features
a lacrosse-playing penguin bearing
Michael’s jersey number: 33.
As Long Island was hit by COVID-19, the
foundation instead quickly pivoted with
new initiatives to support first responders,
while maintaining its long-term
mission and giving back to the community.
Foundation staff partnered with
Pampered Chef affiliates to assemble more
than 400 “Blessing Bags” with personal
protective equipment, hand sanitizer,
and nonperishable food for emergency
workers at hospitals across Long Island.
Elsewhere, the foundation facilitated
donations of cell phone chargers as
hospitals closed to outside visitors,
leaving many patients alone without
familiar faces. A donation of 10 iPads
to NYU Winthrop Hospital in January
unexpectedly proved invaluable to
those on ventilators seeking a final way
to connect with their loved ones.
Life essentials have always been a priority
for the foundation, and a partnership
with restaurant Piccola Bussola
of Mineola not only provided patients,
frontline workers, and their families
with nutritious to-go meals for nine
weeks straight, but also lent a helping
hand to a local restaurant struggling
L. to R.: Actress Alison Luff and
Terrie Magro at a 2019 fundraiser.
(Photo by Ed Shin)
with lessened demand.
“People are still in cancer treatment;
families are struggling now more than
they ever were because they may have
been terminated from their jobs put
on unemployment,” Terrie Magro said.
Thankfully, the Michael Magro Foundation
is here to help.
For more information, visit
michaelmagrofoundation.com
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