Weisenberg donates to local drum corps

Family Residences and Essential Enterprises welcomed former State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg on June 28, who presented a $10,000 donation to the FREE Players Drum Corps, which could help send them to the world championships in 2018.

FREE, an Old Bethpage-based organization, supports more than 4,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities, mental illness and traumatic brain injury by offering housing, recovery and crisis services, education and after-school support, as well as primary and specialty health care.

The drum corps was founded in 2010 and developed at the organization’s Theatre Arts Day Program. It consists of a drum line, color guard and a front ensemble that performs in parades, competitions and festivals year-round. The group was invited to perform in exhibition at the 2018 Drum Corps International World Championships, and the donation from The Harvey and Ellen Weisenberg Special Needs Foundation is a step toward sending the 65-member corps to Indianapolis, Ind. for the world-renowned event.

All members of the squad — ranging in age from 20 to 50-plus — have intellectual and physical abilities, but the corps’ mission is to focus on the member’s talents and abilities, not their disabilities, the group wrote on its GoFundMe page, which is seeking $65,000 to cover the many travel expenses. If the corps is able to raise their goal, it would become the first ever special-needs group to play at the competition, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of thousands of spectators.

“Harvey Weisenberg has always been a tremendous ally to FREE and I am overwhelmed by his and his foundation’s generosity,” said Robert S. Budd, the organization’s CEO, in a statement.  “This donation is an important first step towards reaching our overall goal and being able to send our drum corps to the world championships to show the world their incredible talents.”

Weisenberg’s son, Ricky, 57, is developmentally disabled, and inspired the former legislator to advocate on behalf of those with special needs and their families. Weisenberg became known for his efforts to help these families when he fought Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013 to restore $90 million in cuts for resources for those with special needs.

His foundation, which he created with his wife, Ellen, who died at 81 from complications of metastatic melanoma in April, released an app in March to help families and caregivers of those with special needs navigate the often overwhelming process of getting care for their loved ones. Weisenberg’s donation is his latest contribution to citizens with these disabilities.

“Ellen and I dedicated our lives to helping children with special needs and the love we have for our special children,” Weisenberg said in a statement. “The goal of the Harvey and Ellen Weisenberg Special Needs Foundation is to help put a face on our special children and focus on what they can do, not what they can’t do. It was wonderful to see the happiness on the faces of the drum corps as they performed.”

 FREE’s GoFundMe campaign can be viewed at www.gofundme.com/freedrumcorps, as the corps has raised $6,546 in the page’s first four weeks, in addition to Weisenberg’s contribution.

“Our members strive to alleviate prejudice, break down barriers and demonstrate that anyone can communicate through music,” the page, created by the corps’ director Brian Calhoun, says. “Help us show the world that anything is possible with heart, hard work and the desire to push oneself beyond any previously conceived limitations.”