_____________ ROCKVILLE CENTRE ____________ Savings & Success!
HERALD Dinosaur carnival returns to RVC
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION Sign up today. It onl y takes seconds. Apply online at mptrg .com/heraldnote or call 516.715.1266
Page 3 Vol. 35 No. 2
JANUARY 4 - 10, 2024
Maidenbaum Property Tax Reduction Grou p, LLC 483 Chestnut Stree t, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
$1.00
123885 1111 1 028
Get Results. Sign Up Today!
Hablamos Español
St. Patrick’s parade names grand marshal leads an agency with more than 500 employees that has earned a reputation as one of the leadGre g Schaefer has been ing providers of home health care in the counties it serves. named the grand marshal of Schaefer has been a member this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will take place of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee for 10 years, and has on Saturday, March 23, at noon. “I was shocked, to be honest won both the Best in Show and Best Marching Band with you,” Schaefer awards. He served said. “To get that as president of the call was very excitChamber of Coming.” merce from 2014 to Schaefer, 49, was 2017, and was named born and raised in the Nassau Council Rockville Centre, of Chambers’ Small where he lives with Businessperson of his wife, Michelle, the Year in 2013. t h e i r 1 2 - ye a r- o l d In addition to his son, Cain, and their work in the commu10-year-old daughter, GREG SChAEFER nity, Schaefer coachCameron. Greg is e s h i s s o n’s a n d the president and chief executive officer of the daughter’s CYO and Little Better Home Health Care Agen- League teams. Since the parade made its cy, which has provided patient care to people on the South debut in 1997, the parade comShore of Long Island since mittee has helped raise more than $1.6 million for charitable 1987. “Primarily, we provide home organizations, living up to its health aides to individuals who slogan as “the parade that want to stay at home rather cares and shares.” Schaefer will be the youngthan go into assisted living or a n u r s i n g h o m e, ” S c h a e f e r est grand marshal in its history. “It’s a great group of people to explained. H e j o i n e d B e t t e r H o m e even be mentioned with,” he Health Care in 1996, and was said of his predecessors. “Over named CEO in 2018. He now Continued on page 19
By DANIEl oFFNER
doffner@liherald.com
Daniel Offner/Herald
Community rallies after teacher is fired Michael Califano, a third-grade teacher at Maria Regina Catholic School in Seaford, embraces friends and colleagues who came out to protest his firing outside the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Story, photos, Page 20.
South Side H.S. student creates foundation to help save lives By SUSANNA CIURlEo Correspondent
South Side High School junior Ella Burbige has taken an active role in spreading awareness of sudden cardiac arrest among student athletes, and ensuring that the proper equipment and training are available to save lives. The danger hit close to home for Burbige when her good friend PJ Kellachan, a now 18-year-old Chaminade High School basketball player, suddenly collapsed on a basketball court while running drills with his teammates in December 2022. Kellachan fell to the floor when a seizure caused his heart to stop.
Assistant coach Bob Paul and athletic trainer Jorge Vargas saved Kellachan’s life by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using an automated external defibrillator until emergency services personnel arrived. The near-tragedy inspired Burbige to create the Heart and Soul Foundation, a student-run nonprofit organization that provides the training and equipment necessary to save lives. “An AED boosts survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest up to 60 percent, and about 1,700 lives are saved each year in the U.S. by bystanders using an AED,” Burbige said, “so having one in as many facilities as possible is crucial in saving Continued on page 7