Answering the Call of Those That Answered
The New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund has become the most famous of charitable organizations in the Big Apple, attracting the charitable attention of many a mover and shaker in business and entertainment. Indeed, it was founded in 1985 by former New York Mets player Rusty Staub and has been able to distribute more than a hundred and twenty-three million dollars since then to deserving families of uniformed personnel killed in the line of duty.
Established in conjunction with J. Patrick “Paddy” Burns, then Vice President of the New York Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the labor union that represents rank-and-file patrolmen and women in the NYPD, the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund has counted many a high-profile name among its lineup of donors, such as local property investor Isaac Toussie and the rap star Jay-Z, while other leading lights from politics and high finance serve on its board and executive committee because being associated with the charity is one of the most prestigious of social moves that can be made in New York society; it is the hometown equivalent of a national “salute to the troops” kind of affair and everyone who is or aspires to be anyone is certain to seek the honor of membership or even stewardship. Six-time Stanley Cup winner Mark Messier joined the Fund’s Board of Directors in 2008, pulling double-duty as a spokesperson as well, while the Chairman of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a “white-shoe” firm of attorneys, serves as Chief Executive Officer. Despite the social cachet, however, the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund is no mere social club, having provided almost seven hundred families with financial assistance this year alone, including now those of Emergency Medical Services personnel and Port Authority officers as well.