Samaritan Daytop Foundation Holds 17th Annual Golf Invitational & Dinner

From left to right: Salvatore J. Cassano, Former Commissioner, FDNY; Frank Siller, CEO/Chairman of Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation; Kerry Varvaro, Wife of deceased Port Authority Police Officer, Anthony Varvaro; Vincent Pitta, Esq., Board Member of Samaritan Daytop Village; Mitchell Netburn, President & CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village

Photo credit: Nkosi Hamilton for Samaritan Daytop Village

 

• Frank Siller, CEO/Chairman of Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation honored with the Anthony Varvaro Community Service award.
  
  
• Benefit raises more than $160,000 for addiction support and recovery services in Staten Island and beyond.
  
  

Samaritan Daytop Foundation Holds 17th Annual Golf Invitational & Dinner
Benefiting Samaritan Daytop Village 

(STATEN ISLAND, NY - July 18, 2024) - On July 18, 2024, the nonprofit Samaritan Daytop Foundation held its 17th Annual Golf Invitational and Dinner benefiting Samaritan Daytop Village. At Richmond County Country Club, 120 golfers gathered to enjoy an all-day fundraising event with brunch, golf, a cocktail hour, and an awards dinner, hosted by Samaritan Daytop Village Board Member Vincent F. Pitta, Esq.

During the evening’s awards ceremony, former FDNY Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano presented Frank Siller, CEO/Chairman of Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, with the Anthony Varvaro Community Service award for his longstanding commitment to supporting veterans, first responders, and their families. The award is named in memory of the Staten Island native, baseball star, Port Authority police officer, father of four, and community advocate who was tragically killed in 2022. In support of Varvaro’s family, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation paid off the family’s mortgage.

The Golf Invitational—a special annual tradition for Samaritan on Staten Island—helps support the nonprofit’s life-saving programs, which provide comprehensive addiction, mental health, recovery, and health services, as well as transitional housing, to 33,000+ people a year. The sponsors for this special occasion included SterlingRisk Insurance, Centennial Security Integration, International Union Operating Engineers (Local 94-94A-94B and Local 15), Pitta LLP, Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC, and Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Buffalano.

On Staten Island, the nonprofit runs an outpatient treatment program and a transitional housing facility. Last year, the nonprofit helped over 675 people on Staten Island. Samaritan’s programs are crucial as the borough faces the second-highest rate of overdose deaths in the city.

“Our work at Samaritan Daytop Village has a simple mission: to improve lives by helping people help themselves. As Staten Island faces the second-highest overdose death rate in the city, Samaritan is here to support this community by providing comprehensive addiction, mental health, recovery, and health services, as well as transitional housing, to 33,000 people a year, including hundreds of Staten Islanders. Thank you to our supporters at this special Annual Golf Invitational & Dinner, who are integral to ensuring the success of our programs,” says Mitchell Netburn, President & CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village.

“As a board member of Samaritan Daytop Village and a Staten Island resident for more than 30 years, I know firsthand how crucial Samaritan’s programs are in supporting our Staten Island community in its efforts to tackle its toughest challenges. Samaritan Daytop Foundation’s 17th Annual Golf Invitational & Dinner benefiting Samaritan Daytop Village is such an important event to support necessary and life-changing programs, all while enjoying a round of golf. We are also especially delighted to award Frank Siller, the CEO of Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, with the inaugural Anthony Varvaro Community Service award for his longstanding tireless commitment both to veterans, first responders, and their families and to the Staten Island community at large where Frank was born, lives and raised his beautiful family,” says Vincent Pitta, Esq., Board Member of Samaritan Daytop Village and Founding and Managing Member of Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC.

“Samaritan Daytop Village and Samaritan Daytop Foundation are an essential part of our Staten Island community, providing support to hundreds of our neighbors facing addiction and mental health challenges. I am proud to stand with Samaritan in addressing our borough’s challenges, and it is especially humbling to be honored with the Anthony Varvaro Community Service award in particular, as Mr. Varvaro was such an upstanding Staten Island citizen. Thank you to Samaritan for this honor,” says Frank Siller, CEO/Chairman of Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

“Samaritan Daytop Village’s work directly addresses the ongoing overdose epidemic, in addition to the mental health and homelessness crises that compound it. We must support those on the frontlines providing access to life-saving services and treatment—from doctors and social workers to peer recovery workers and first responders. I am proud to support Samaritan Daytop Village in these efforts in our borough, and present my friend and neighbor, Frank Siller, with the Anthony Varvaro Community Service award,” says Salvatore J. Cassano, Executive Board Member of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and Former FDNY Commissioner, 2010-2014.

“Staten Island has the second highest overdose rates in the city. At Samaritan Daytop Village’s Staten Island Outpatient Treatment Program, we are tackling the overdose crisis head-on, with urgency and compassion for those we provide life-saving care to. We are grateful to our steadfast supporters for their commitment to helping us to help others help themselves,” says Lauren Batthany, Program Director at Samaritan Daytop Village’s Staten Island Outpatient Treatment Program.

“The overdose crisis no doubt is exacerbated by the overlapping homelessness and mental health challenges far too many New Yorkers face. At Samaritan Daytop Village, our team is dedicated to ensuring all who walk through our doors gain access to housing, health, mental health, recovery, case management, employment and vocational, and other support services that ensure lasting stability and well-being. Thank you to our supporters who ensure we can maintain the highest quality services through our integrated model of care,” says Susan Bernstein, Program Director at Samaritan Daytop Village’s Tompkins Avenue Men’s Residence.

“I am proud to support the work of Samaritan Daytop Village, which provides urgently needed support to thousands of individuals and families impacted by the combined substance use, mental health, and homelessness crises every year. Through street outreach, harm reduction, peer support, treatment services, and now transitional housing as well—Samaritan Daytop Village is on the front lines to provide compassionate care for those who need it most here on Staten Island and throughout NYC and beyond,” says Alfred C. Cerullo, III, President/CEO of the Grand Central Partnership (GCP).

Samaritan Daytop Foundation's next fundraising event benefiting Samaritan Daytop Village will be the nonprofit’s 2024 Annual Gala, held Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at Guastavino’s in New York. Samaritan will honor Magnusson Architecture and Planning and PC and Constance Marks, Filmmaker and Trustee of the Nancy and Edwin Marks Family Foundation. Learn more about the 2024 Annual Gala, purchase tickets or sponsorship packages, or support the nonprofit with a donation here.

About Samaritan Daytop Village: For over 60 years, Samaritan Daytop Village has been improving the quality of life for New Yorkers. The nonprofit is nationally recognized for the treatment of substance use disorder as well as for the veteran-specific approach it pioneered. Our continuum of services also includes health and mental health care, transitional and supportive housing, educational and vocational assistance, peer-assisted recovery, and specialized programs for adolescents, families, and seniors. Annually, Samaritan Daytop Village serves over 33,000 people at more than 80 facilities throughout New York City, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley. For more information about Samaritan Daytop Village, visit https://samaritanvillage.org/.

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