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HERALD
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DECEMBER 28, 2023 - JANUARY 3, 2024
What’s What’s
INSIDE INSIDE
Vol. 31 No. 1
HERALD PERSONS oF THE YEAR Abby & Miguel Melendez
Radiating hope after cancer battle reveals silver lining By Ben Fiebert
The Irish Pub raises money for an injured bartender. Page 8
They are known as the dynamic duo. Abby and Miguel Melendez have used their shared experience of surviving cancer to help others struggling with the deadly illness. And it’s because of those efforts, the two are the Baldwin Herald’s Persons of the Year. More than two decades have passed since Abby, 64, beat thyroid cancer survivor. Miguel, 66, has been free from prostate cancer for 14 years. Since then, they both have inspired each other to help others who are in the same shoes they once were in. Abby started her own thyroid cancer support group, Thyroid Cancer for Long Island — Thyca L.I. for short — think just back in 2003. Miguel became co-leader of the group shortly after it started. letting people Through Thyca L.I.,, they have been a beacon of hope to those struggling with know that thyroid cancer. they’re not crazy “One of the members of the support group indicated to me that she received and they’re not damage to her recurrent laryngeal alone, is just the nerve,” Abby said. “And she said she most important needed someone to talk to her off the ledge. So, I spoke with her for a while thing. the other day.” The point of the support group is for Abby Melendez Abby to listen and offer advice to other people with the disease. She wants to be thyroid cancer survivor there for people who are struggling. “I think a lot of people are made out to feel well, your cancer was cut out of you, you take a pill, you have treatment, you’re done,” Abby said. “And it’s not like that.” The procedure of removing your thyroid is quite traumatic to the body. Because of that, the mental and physical recovery can take a while. This is where Abby and Miguel come in to provide support. “I think just letting people know that they’re not crazy and they’re not alone is just the most important thing,” Abby said. Sharing her story and letting others know that they’re not alone is one of the two “silver linings” Abby experienced from being a cancer survivor. The other is that being a survivor made her passionate about volunteering and giving back. After retiring from working in New York City public schools more than a dozen years ago, Miguel wanted to spend his retirement doing volunteer work. He looked at the American Cancer Society website and found, what he called, to be his “own baby” that he is proud of being involved with. This is the Road to Recovery program, which he has coordinated for the past decade. The program is very similar to ride-hail offerings like Uber or Lyft where Miguel sees a name pop up on his phone, what time
I
Dozens enjoy annual feast hosted by St. Christopher's. Page 16
Family, friends run 5K for leukemia research. Page 19
For BrEAKING NEWS go to liherald.com
they want to be picked up and returned. Unlike Uber or Lyft, he is solely driving these people to cancer treatment appointments or for other medical reasons in Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as Queens. “Let’s say somebody is diagnosed with cancer and they have to go through treatments every day for a month,” Miguel says. “Some people have work, they have school, and they don’t have the wherewithal of traveling mass transit on Long Island. So, when I pick somebody up, they’re very appreciative.” Miguel also finds himself involved in ACSí Se Puede, a cancer awareness group targeting the Latino community. He has spoken with the Hispanic Brotherhood in Rockville Centre about how younger people have become the ones to take care of their parents — and more care is needed. For the past year, both Abby and Miguel embarked on a new mission — to bring back Relay For Life, a cancer charity walk, to Baldwin. Held at Baldwin High School between 2009 and 2013. Then, under Abby’s leadership, the event was moved to Baldwin Park between 2014 and 2016, raising nearly $28,000 in the last year for the cancer society. Abby tried to bring it back in 2020, but then Covid-19 got in the way. However, a virtual relay was held in 2021 with more than $12,000 raised. The Relay for Life’s First Lap, which is an event to show commitment to fighting cancer, will be held Jan. 6 at noon at Baldwin Middle School. The first Saturday of the year has been
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Abby and Miguel Melendez
Courtesy Abby Melendez