GC residents donate life-saving equipment to school districts

BY GARY SIMEONE

Bob and Stephen Jahelka, a father and son from Garden City, recently took part in a philanthropic effort to donate lifesaving equipment to two school districts on Long Island. The family team, in conjunction with the AHA (American Heart Association) donated CPR kits to both Mineola and West Hempstead High Schools, as part of an initiative to teach lifesaving training skills and procedures to staff and students.

The funding for the initiative was made possible by the DSJ Advisory Group LLC, a full-service tax accounting firm. Bob is Managing Partner at the firm and Stephen serves as the Chief Operating Officer.

“Teaching our students CPR will put thousands of qualified lifesavers in our community year after year,” said Bob. “Everyone benefits by having more lifesavers in our community, especially when you consider that every hour about forty people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of the hospital.”

Stephen, who graduated from Garden City Higj School in 2011, said that a former classmate reached out to him about the funding for the CPR kits.

“Leah Davies, a classmate of mine, who works at the American Heart Association, reached out to me to see if our firm could get involved in this great initiative,” said Jahelka. “We have supported her organization in the past and this is another great cause. Our firm jumped at the opportunity to take part in this philanthropic effort.”

As part of the program, both school districts will each receive an AHA CPR First Aid Anywhere Training kit. Each kit is valued at a price of $7,500.

“These kits will serve as a training aid for the teachers who than in turn will administer the program and train the students,” said Jahelka. “These along with AED’s (automated external defibrillator) will be on hand if god forbid a student or athlete on the field suffers a medical emergency.”

The Jahelka’s chose the Mineola and West Hempstead school districts because of family ties in each of these communities.

Robert Jahelka, Stephens grandfather, worked in the West Hempstead district for over 35 years as a teacher, administrator, and varsity basketball coach. The High School gymnasium was officially renamed the Robert L Jahelka Gym in 1999. Bob grew up in the community and went through the school district as well.

Stephen’s great-grandfather, Louis Jahelka , was a longtime administrator in the Mineola school district.