“There isn’t a more gratifying feeling in this world than seeing the smiles on these children’s faces,” said Hoboken resident and Humanitarian Award winner Vincent Stroessner Jr. as he flipped through a picture book full of smiling children taken at an event sponsored by a non-profit organization. “For someone to show affection, love and compassion really makes a difference in their lives.”
For the past 25 years, Stroessner has been working with the Community Mayors Inc., a non-political, not-for-profit national group made up of community and business leaders. Over the past 51 years, the Brooklyn-based organization has played host to more than three million handicapped children, and each year, the company sponsors a series of events benefiting more than 80,000 children.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, Stroessner received the Community Mayor’s Humanitarian Award for his dedication to handicapped children in the New Jersey, New York and Connecticut area. Among the more than 3,000 men and women who assisted in 10 annual events, there were five distinguished “mayors” who were recognized for their particular excellence at an event which was held at the Sheraton New York Hotel.
The Community Mayors was founded in 1875 by “Wireless” Louis Zeltner and has had many notable members such as Teddy Roosevelt and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. From the beginning, the focus of the organization was communal, civic and charitable activities.
While Stroessner participates in nearly every Mayors’ event, the Humanitarian Award singled out his work as the chairman of the “Operation Santa Claus” Newark. Every year, Santa Claus arrives on a commercial jet plane at Newark Airport to provide a day of holiday joy to more than 5,000 special needs children through party favors, gifts, meals and entertainment. “Most of these children are institutionalized, and many of them are confined to wheelchairs,” said Stroessner. “For some of them, the only time they get out is when the Mayors take them out for a day of fun.”
Other popular Mayors’ events include days at the Ringling Bros. Circus at Madison Square Garden for 10,000 children, Astroland Amusement Park, the New York Aquarium, the Bronx Zoo, Mets games, and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.
The Community Mayors have no paid staff, and all the money raised for the children goes directly to the children. The members, officers and volunteers give their time freely, said Stroessner.
For more information on the Community Mayors or to find out how to contribute, call (718) 677-1675, or visit www.communitymayors.com.