By Paul J. Condra
Zois said the donation is a wonderful gift, coming at a time when she is enmeshed in a web of red tape, struggling to get the financial aid her and her two children will need now that her husband, Paul, who was their main source of income, is gone.
One of Zois' exhaustive trips to Pier 94 in Manhattan -- an aid distribution center set up to help WTC victims -- was chronicled in a Nov. 1 article in the Village Herald. The story recounted the difficulty of people in Zois' situation as they seek to understand how to get assistance from the numerous charities that may or may not be available to help.
Leo Prestopino, owner of Gold's Gym in Lynbrook, said that after reading the story he wanted to help. He said the Gym had held a raffle of a one-year membership and raised $1,700 to be donated to a charity for WTC victims.
However, he said he was uncomfortable donating the money to the Red Cross because he felt the organization was misleading people in its claims that all of the donations would go to help WTC victims. Indeed, the Red Cross has been embroiled in controversy over how it has distributed the flood of donations since Sept. 11.
Instead, after reading Zois' story, Prestopino decided he would donate the money directly to her. He said Zois came to his gym and picked up the check Monday evening.
"She said 'I don't know what to say.' I said 'you don't have to say anything,'" Prestopino said.
Zois said she was very grateful for the gift.
The Nov. 1 story chronicled her fourth trip to Pier 94. Since then, Zois said she hasn't had to return, only going down to Ground Zero for a memorial Mass dedicated to those whose remains have not been found. She said the Mass was "a horrible experience" as there weren't enough seats for all those attending, and she had to wait in the cold for an hour before being permitted to pick up an urn at Ground Zero. The urns contained ashes from the disaster site and were given to WTC victims' families.
Zois also said she will have to go to Pier 94 a fifth time in order to drop off a mortgage bill The Red Cross agreed to pay. She is meeting with a Red Cross director in Nassau County this week to discuss her situation. The widow has started working nights as a nurse to help pay the bills.
