A life that inspired

Students at P.S. 176 in Cambria Heights have a better place to play.
Thanks to the $350,000 in capital funding secured by Councilmember Leroy Comrie, the ribbon was cut on “Syliah’s” Playground on Thursday, January 10.
Named in memory of Syliah Volmar, a P.S. 176 student who lost her battle to dilated cardiomyopathy (a rare heart disease in children) while awaiting a heart transplant, the renovation of the playground was the culmination of a successful initiative led by the Syliah Volmar Foundation.
Syliah was born May 13, 1997, at St John’s Hospital to Dr Louis E. Volmar and Huguette Bastien Volmar, RN. She was diagnosed on the eve of her sixth birthday and died six months later, on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2003, at the New York Children’s Presbyterian Hospital.
The Syliah Volmar Foundation wants to continue the little girl’s legacy of making a difference in the lives of young children and their parents. The Foundation’s first initiative was to restore and renovate the kindergarten playground at the school.
To highlight the importance of this viable initiative, the Foundation circulated a petition to the community and collected over 400 signatures to submit to Comrie.
“I want to congratulate the Volmar Foundation and Syliah’s parents for their dedication and hard work in making this playground a reality,” said Comrie. “Their extraordinary dedication to honoring the memory of their beloved daughter has moved our entire community and I am thankful to be able to play a small role in securing funding for this renovation. Future generations of children will enjoy this playground and their enjoyment will be a tribute to the memory of Syliah Volmar.”
Comrie continued, “I also want to thank Principal Arlene Bartlett and her staff, as well as PTA president Cheryl Caddle and the parents of P.S. 176 for their support and efforts.”
For more information about the Syliah Volmar Foundation, call 718-276-5614 or log on at www.syliahvolmarfoundation.org.