By Dana Williams
At an awards ceremony before the meeting, Mayor Patricia Ann McDonald, along with other board members, presented citations to a number of residents and community activists.
John Gotimer, the founder of the village's Project Helping Others Through Sports organization, otherwise known as Project Hotshots, accepted a citation for the organization's backpack effort on Aug. 11, during which the members filled backpacks with two tons' worth of school supplies and sent them to underprivileged schools.
"John Gotimer, his family, the board of Project Hotshots, their families, and 83 children gathered in the basement of Our Lady of Lourdes School to fill over 1,000 backpacks," McDonald explained. "The school supplies will be distributed to underprivileged children here in the United States and across the world."
Project Hotshots is a nonprofit global charity that aims to "share, aid, teach the children and young adults of the world, especially those most in need of what many others take for granted," according to its Web site. The organization has also sent new sports equipment and school supplies to the Dominican Republic and new clothing, sneakers and shoes to the Philippines, among other efforts.
McDonald said the citation was a way for the village to "recognize and pay tribute to Gotimer's humanitarian efforts." A number of the young members of the organization, who range from ages 4 to 19, joined Gotimer to accept the award with beaming smiles. "When we started Project Hotshots, we ... wanted to help the kids around the world ... and to help kids here understand that they can make a difference," Gotimer said. "The backpacks were all of the [children's] hard work - not mine - and it was wonderful."
Elsie Santiago, a science teacher at Valley Stream Memorial Junior High School, was honored with a citation for winning first prize in the second annual Got 2B Safe! Awards program, which "honors teachers who are committed to keeping children safe from abduction and sexual exploitation," according to the program's Web site. The initiative was created by Honeywell International and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Santiago was recognized for starting and teaching a program at the junior high school that educates students about how they can remain safe from sexual predators. She was also awarded $500 in school supplies for her efforts. Malverne's Deputy Mayor, James J. Callahan, described Santiago as an example "of the many great educators working with students in the village." The junior high school, which is in the Valley Stream 13 School District, serves many Malverne residents.
Malverne Trustee Michael T. Bailey presented the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps with a citation for its 40 years of service. The corps, which was officially chartered by New York state in January 1969, provides emergency medical services to residents of Malverne, Malverne Park and North Lynbrook. Corps President Bill Malone announced that the volunteer group is looking for new members.
"I've been with the corps for 31 years, and [out of all] of those years, over 90 percent of everyone who has ever joined the corps has had absolutely no medical training," Malone said. "You don't need to come in with any training whatsoever, just the drive, effort and the desire to want to do something for your community."
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