Laura
02-03-2008, 06:32 PM
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COLD TOES, WARM HEART
Sunday, February 03, 2008
By JOEL H. COHEN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For decades, beginning with a Willowbrook State School internship, Richard Salinardi, executive director of Lifestyles for the Disabled, has served the intellectually challenged. He's directed Lifestyles since its inception 13 years ago and also coordinates Special Olympics on Staten Island and chairs its New York Board.
However, on Dec. 2, he did something a little out of character -- for a purpose. Salinardi participated in Staten Island's first Polar Plunge at Great Kills Beach. Along with hundreds of others in bathsuits, he helped to raise $55,000 for Special Olympics by racing into 39-degree waters.
Who were these merry masochists?
Most of the money came from sponsors of students from Monsignor Farrell High School and Notre Dame Academy, which both had started Special Olympics clubs, and Fordham University.
Others at the Plunge: the present and a former Miss Staten Island, people up to 65 and over; a few Special Olympians and one dog. Two men held a home-made "Olympic" torch. And a member of the Coney Island Polar Bears stayed in the water a full 10 minutes! But you stayed in only a few minutes? Seconds! Put your big toe in, your brain feels the same cold as if you went in all the way and stayed.
How did the Plunge come about? Coney Island Polar Bears offered to do a fund-raiser for Special Olympics and invited me to observe them one New Year's Day. The water that day was cold, but on land it was a beautiful 65 degrees!The snow on the Island was a big shock. But it didn't keep anybody away, and it was tremendous fun. As a matter of fact, we hope it snows at the next Polar Plunge (the first Sunday of December 2008) because there's no better environment for getting people all pumped up.
Are participants rewarded?They get coffee and muffins before and after going in; anyone with sponsorships of $250 or more gets a polar bear robe, and everybody gets a shirt and certificate.
So you have all year until your next Polar plunge.
No. Some New Jersey people came to our event, so I have to reciprocate this Feb. 28. Volunteerism can be a risky business.
What attracted you to special ed? Basically the potential. You couldn't work with better people than the intellectually challenged; they're so willing and eager to learn. It's the purest kind of teaching.
Have the changes been dramatic? Since my Willowbrook days to now, as director of Lifestyles, I marvel at how we're completely reversing the trend, doing magnificent things. Consumers (as the intellectually challenged are now called), who used to be in institutions and dependent on services, are now delivering them, and the community is dependent on them. It's amazing how productive they are. If they were born at a different time, they'd be in a ward. When we started taking Willowbrook clients, who'd never been outside the walls, to movies, restaurants, beaches, people seeing us coming would cross the street. They don't cross the street anymore.
What are some of Lifestyles' services?Consumers come to Lifestyles five days a week, either from homes where they live with their parents, or their own residence, usually agency-sponsored.
At Lifestyles Café, our consumers cook and wait on tables, serving 200 people a day.They also cook, deliver and serve meals to a thousand senior citizens, at four Island residences. At two commercial greenhouses, in partnership with the Lynne Steinman Foundation, we grow flowers all year and deliver them to schools, hospitals and nursing homes.What's the effect on the consumers? They're very proud of having daily responsibilities, doing real work, not something like putting nuts and bolts together. Seeing their potential, we create the environment where they can learn and train, and gain tremendous self-esteem.
What do you tell young people about volunteering? That only good things result. They'll learn from it, mature, develop a better understanding of the community. And the guaranteed hidden bonus: they'll feel very good about themselves.
PERSONAL PROFILE
Schools: B.A., Wagner College (which the Hoboken, NJ native attended on a football scholarship, and where he played football and baseball); master's in special education, Fordham University.
Work in sports: Coached football at Wagner about 10 years; baseball at CSI one seasonAlternate career?A pro sports team's general manager.
Family: He and wife Suzanne live in Eltingville. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Pastimes: Playing golf; watching sports and "Law and Order" on TV, reading mystery and spy novels.Would like spending a day with his late parents
© 2008 Staten Island Advance© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.
COLD TOES, WARM HEART
Sunday, February 03, 2008
By JOEL H. COHEN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For decades, beginning with a Willowbrook State School internship, Richard Salinardi, executive director of Lifestyles for the Disabled, has served the intellectually challenged. He's directed Lifestyles since its inception 13 years ago and also coordinates Special Olympics on Staten Island and chairs its New York Board.
However, on Dec. 2, he did something a little out of character -- for a purpose. Salinardi participated in Staten Island's first Polar Plunge at Great Kills Beach. Along with hundreds of others in bathsuits, he helped to raise $55,000 for Special Olympics by racing into 39-degree waters.
Who were these merry masochists?
Most of the money came from sponsors of students from Monsignor Farrell High School and Notre Dame Academy, which both had started Special Olympics clubs, and Fordham University.
Others at the Plunge: the present and a former Miss Staten Island, people up to 65 and over; a few Special Olympians and one dog. Two men held a home-made "Olympic" torch. And a member of the Coney Island Polar Bears stayed in the water a full 10 minutes! But you stayed in only a few minutes? Seconds! Put your big toe in, your brain feels the same cold as if you went in all the way and stayed.
How did the Plunge come about? Coney Island Polar Bears offered to do a fund-raiser for Special Olympics and invited me to observe them one New Year's Day. The water that day was cold, but on land it was a beautiful 65 degrees!The snow on the Island was a big shock. But it didn't keep anybody away, and it was tremendous fun. As a matter of fact, we hope it snows at the next Polar Plunge (the first Sunday of December 2008) because there's no better environment for getting people all pumped up.
Are participants rewarded?They get coffee and muffins before and after going in; anyone with sponsorships of $250 or more gets a polar bear robe, and everybody gets a shirt and certificate.
So you have all year until your next Polar plunge.
No. Some New Jersey people came to our event, so I have to reciprocate this Feb. 28. Volunteerism can be a risky business.
What attracted you to special ed? Basically the potential. You couldn't work with better people than the intellectually challenged; they're so willing and eager to learn. It's the purest kind of teaching.
Have the changes been dramatic? Since my Willowbrook days to now, as director of Lifestyles, I marvel at how we're completely reversing the trend, doing magnificent things. Consumers (as the intellectually challenged are now called), who used to be in institutions and dependent on services, are now delivering them, and the community is dependent on them. It's amazing how productive they are. If they were born at a different time, they'd be in a ward. When we started taking Willowbrook clients, who'd never been outside the walls, to movies, restaurants, beaches, people seeing us coming would cross the street. They don't cross the street anymore.
What are some of Lifestyles' services?Consumers come to Lifestyles five days a week, either from homes where they live with their parents, or their own residence, usually agency-sponsored.
At Lifestyles Café, our consumers cook and wait on tables, serving 200 people a day.They also cook, deliver and serve meals to a thousand senior citizens, at four Island residences. At two commercial greenhouses, in partnership with the Lynne Steinman Foundation, we grow flowers all year and deliver them to schools, hospitals and nursing homes.What's the effect on the consumers? They're very proud of having daily responsibilities, doing real work, not something like putting nuts and bolts together. Seeing their potential, we create the environment where they can learn and train, and gain tremendous self-esteem.
What do you tell young people about volunteering? That only good things result. They'll learn from it, mature, develop a better understanding of the community. And the guaranteed hidden bonus: they'll feel very good about themselves.
PERSONAL PROFILE
Schools: B.A., Wagner College (which the Hoboken, NJ native attended on a football scholarship, and where he played football and baseball); master's in special education, Fordham University.
Work in sports: Coached football at Wagner about 10 years; baseball at CSI one seasonAlternate career?A pro sports team's general manager.
Family: He and wife Suzanne live in Eltingville. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Pastimes: Playing golf; watching sports and "Law and Order" on TV, reading mystery and spy novels.Would like spending a day with his late parents
© 2008 Staten Island Advance© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.