St. Mary’s fundraiser at Belmont

Thousands of people are expected to flock to the racetrack at Belmont Park on Sunday, May 18 - for the 5th annual Walk for St. Mary’s Kids, the annual fund-and-awareness raiser for St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital in Bayside.
“It’s an opportunity to become an advocate for children with special needs and their families,” said Leslie Johnson, a spokesperson for St. Mary’s. “In addition to the walk, it’s a family fun day,” she said.
Registration begins under the Belmont marquee at 7:30 a.m., as do the activities which include “fun for kids big and small,” such as games, face painting, arts and crafts, entertainment, backstretch tours and more.
The non-competitive half-mile or three-mile event, for which team leaders were recognized at the breakfast, begins at 9 a.m.
At a breakfast announcement ceremony at the Bayside medical facility, on Saturday, March 15, St. Mary’s recognized supporters and announced the two Grand Marshals for this year’s event: St. Mary’s patients, 13-year-old Rosella (Rosie) Lawrence and William LaMar, seven.
LaMar was born with a condition that required him to be fed through a tube and caused developmental delays. His complex medical care is managed at home and in school by St. Mary’s Care at Home Program, where he receives rehabilitation therapies and nursing.
According to a St. Mary’s spokesperson, “He has made wonderful gains in all areas of development; the newest and most exciting being the use of words and the ability to ride an adapted bicycle.”
Lawrence was tragically injured nearly a year ago, when she was struck by a runaway BMW driven by a retired New York Police Department detective, and pinned against a utility pole in Springfield Gardens.
The sixth grade honor student and step dancer was waiting to cross the intersection of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and South Conduit Avenue on Thursday, May 10, when the car, driven by Nora Palmer, 73, went out of control and jumped the curb.
At the time, as reported in The Queens Courier, the severe nature of the injuries prompted concerns that Lawrence would lose the leg, but after long inpatient medical treatment, including rehabilitation at St. Mary’s, she was able to go home recently.
“She has a lot more rehabilitation to do with the help of our home care workers,” Johnson said. “Still, it’s like a miracle,” she added, “Every bone in her leg was severely broken.”
“This wonderful event is just a day after the Preakness (race) and we’re hoping for a little miracle of our own” said Deborah Solimine, Director of Special Events for the New York Racing Association (NYRA).
Belmont Park, which lies partly in Queens, is the site of the final “jewel” in horse racing’s “Triple Crown.”
The Preakness Stakes in Maryland, the Kentucky Derby, to be held on Saturday, May 3, and the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7 comprise the Triple-Crown.
“If there’s a potential crown winner, it could help St. Mary’s by bringing in more people, just for the chance to be on the field,” Solimine said.
The Walk for St. Mary’s Kids has many sponsors, including SCS Astoria Energy Foundation, Commerce Bank, Aon Risk Services, Belmont Park, Cord Meyer Development, Queens Theatre in the Park and the Queens Library.
For more information, call 718-281-8890 or visit www.stmaryskids.org.