Rockville Centre villager to be honored by Pave the Way Foundation

Jose Dominguez, a longtime Rockville Centre resident and businessman will be honored by the Pave the Way Foundation at its upcoming 2011 Gala Awards Dinner. Dominguez came to the United States from Cuba on Feb. 14, 1968, and two days later, landed one full-time job as a barber, and a part-time job at the former Arbor Inn Restaurant — which he held for 20 years. For the past 30 years, he has owned Pioneer Hair Designs, a landmark barbershop on N. Park Ave., that has been hailed as the “best cut and shave” in town. Dominguez will receive the foundation’s Philanthropy Award in recognition of his many years of giving back to his community.

“Even holding down two jobs he still religiously set aside time to care for those less fortunate. Philanthropy is giving and Jose has given every day to those less fortunate,” said Gary Krupp, president and founder of Pave the Way. Krupp added that Dominguez is being recognized for a lifetime of work in helping the needy in hospitals and throughout the Rockville Centre community.

The event, set for Nov. 14 at the Oheka Castle in Huntington, will be co-chaired by Rockville Centre resident Jack Barry, along with Dominguez’s two daughters, Maria Dominguez Roberts and Alyssa Dominguez Eisenberg. The cost is $300 per person. Others being recognized include Shlomo Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel, who will receive the Interreligious Dialogue Award; John Catsimatidis, an international businessman and the president, chairman and CEO of Red Apple Group, Inc., who will be honored with the Defense of Faith Award; and Frank MacKay, national and N.Y. state chairman of the Independence Party of America, who will get the foundation’s Citizenship Award.

Founded in 2002, the Pave the Way Foundation, Inc. is an international non-sectarian foundation that works to identify and eliminate non-theological obstacles between faiths by bridging “the intellectual gap” with tolerance and understanding, and enhancing relations through cultural, technological and intellectual gestures. The foundation’s goal is to take religion out of the equation for justifying violence. For more information, visit www.ptwf.org or contact Eleni Daniels at danielsmediaco@gmail.com, or at (917) 468-2919