8 The QUEE NS Courier • december 11, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com HUNDREDS SHOW SUPPORT FOR ASTORIA BOY WITH RARE DISORDER BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 Hundreds of people flocked to an Astoria bar this past weekend to show 6-year-old Gabriel Santini Naughton and his family that they’re not alone in his battle with a blood disorder. On Dec. 7, friends of the Santini Naughton family held a fundraiser at The Quays, located at 45-02 30th Ave., to raise money for Gabriel, who was diagnosed in September with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare, lifethreatening autoimmune blood disorder. Although Dana Naughton, Gabriel’s mom, prefers not to say how much was raised, she said over 400 people came by to the corner pub throughout the course of the day. “It was so successful. It’s definitely going to make Christmas comfortable,” Naughton said. “The emotional support of having the community come together was amazing. It looked like a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.” Before Gabriel’s diagnosis, his mother had given birth to his second sister and was on maternity leave from her job as an attorney for the city’s Administration for Children’s Services. In order to continue to care for Gabriel, Naughton is still on leave. Her husband, Jaime Santini, who is a professional chef, has also had to hold back from working full time. Even through these difficult times, the family has felt continuous support from the surrounding Astoria neighbors. (left to right) Rafael Salinas, Jaime Santini, Dana Naughton, James Kane and Dee Flattery, co-owner of The Quays. During the fundraiser, neighbors donated items ranging from theater tickets to a beer cooler that were used as prizes in a raffle. Entertainment for the day was also all donated, including face painting by The Cheeky Chipmunk and a show by magician Dave Cremin. There were also musical performances by Sean Wiggins, Roylurr, Sam Rasiotis, John Keegan, Jimmy Artache, Lauren Hunt and Lisa Marie Hunt. Other local businesses that donated their time, products and food included Avenue Chemists, Pronto Pizza, Off the Vine, Ovelia, Dilingers, Brooklyn Bagel, Phoenix Beer, Manhattan Beer, Mama Carmelo’s, William Hallett, Lauren Biniaris Yoga, Lost Sock, and Sorriso’s. “The community has been awesome from the get-go. But to see all these people in one space was incredibly overwhelming but in a good way,” Naughton said. “Gabriel loved it.” According to the 6-year-old, his favorite part of the fundraiser was the music and singing, and he felt “really happy” to have the party done for him. “It really is an example that human kindness is really alive,” Naughton said. A few days before the fundraiser, Naughton and her husband, found out that Gabriel’s disorder was environmental and not genetic. That means that it could be treated with Photo courtesy of Dana Naughton medication and he will not necessarily need to go through a bone marrow transplant. Gabriel has also stopped chemotherapy. “We are incredibly relieved and optimistic to try another treatment,” Naughton said. “It’s a day by day-by-day thing.” Naughton continues to keep an online blog at posthope. org/gabriels-fight with updates on Gabriel. Donations can also be made on the website. Whitestone and Northern Queens residents push for expansion of school program BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com/@EricJankiewicz Parents in Whitestone and Flushing are trying to give the city a new lesson plan. Lisa Fusco, from Whitestone, and 150 parents in northern Queens signed a petition to the city Department of Education demanding the creation of gifted and talented programs for the middle schools in their district. Several of the parents are also meeting with Borough President Melinda Katz and Department of Education officials on Dec. 10 to discuss the issue. District 25 is bordered by Flushing Meadows Park to the west and Bayside to the east, and it encompasses Pomonok to the south up to Whitestone and College Point. The large area has six middle schools, but none of them have gifted and talented programs. For Fusco and others, that’s a problem. “Our children are in the gifted and talented program in the elementary schools and we would like them to continue this wonderful program into middle school,” said Fusco, whose fourth-grade daughter is enrolled in the program in P.S. 79. “It would be such a shame if they had to stop this program.” The gifted and talented programs are meant to provide extra services for students with a high aptitude who get bored easily in regular classes, according to the Department of Education. Parents must sign up their children for tests to get into the program by November, and children are tested in January and February. While the program is usually meant for elementary schools, the group’s request isn’t unprecedented. School District 26, which runs along the border with Long Island, and District 30, Long Island City and Astoria, both have middle schools that offer the gifted and talented program. “I don’t understand why the DOE lacks a citywide policy on gifted and talented programs and why it provides gifted and talented classes in one district and not another,” said Morris Altman, the president of the education council in District 25. Justin Chang, from Whitestone, has two boys who are enrolled in the program at P.S. 79, and he worries about what his kids will do if there is no equivalent teaching method being used in the local middle schools. “They are different and they need help in a different way,” Chang said. “I would just hope they consider opening the program for our district.”
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