Holiday party to benefit Juvenile Diabetes

“People give from their hearts.”
This is the motto Joe Mur/ believes in - and embodies.
An attorney professionally, Mur/ has been involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) for 13 years. Currently, he is the Treasurer for the New York Chapter.
And for 13 years, Mur/ has been hosting a holiday party to raise funds and awareness for juvenile diabetes - right outside his home on Neponsit Avenue.
“I attempt to put a smile on every child’s face and give them a memory of Christmas to last a lifetime,” said Mur/, who noted that four years ago his son, then five, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.
“Juvenile diabetes has had an effect on my family,” he said, therefore, “I try to help a special group of kids who need help.”
This year, between 2,000 and 4,000 people showed up for the spectacular event - which Mur/ calls “second to none” - on Saturday, December 6.
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on a fire truck, a police helicopter overhead shining a spotlight, and, at that precise moment, it began to sonw. “It was beautiful,” said Mur/.
With free food, music and about 1,000 diabetes meters given out, nearly 2,000 children also got to sit on Santa’s lap and get a gift.
“Once Santa arrived the kids were lined up to the next avenue,” Mur/ noted.
There were big names - Goomba Johnny from radio station WKTU, “Paulie Walnuts” from the “Sopranos,” Breezy Point Pipes and Drums, Louise Benes Dance Studio and Fazio Dance Studio, “American Idol” contestant Kevin Corvais (a.k.a. “Chicken Little”), nine-year-old Emerald Angel Young from “Life on Mars,” and singer Judy Torres, among others.
“Thank you for asking me to be part of such a wonderful production,” wrote Torres in an email to Mur/. “Everyone was so helpful, thoughtful and caring, and I just felt honored to be there. I was especially touched by Santa’s appearance and all the gifts that he had for ALL the children; the snow coming just as he appeared was something only God could have winked at…you obviously had His blessing.”
Lenny’s Clam Bar on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach presented the JDRF with a check for $10,000 at the event. RagTime also donated time, money and effort.
Though the final numbers for this year have yet to be tabulated, Mur/ said that for each of the past four years they have been able to raise $100,000.
“This year we’d like to raise that amount also,” he said, adding, “Every penny we raise goes to charities.”
This year, along with the JDRF, Peninsula Hospital will also receive the funds raised.
Thanks to Mur/, said Liz Sulik, Director of External Affairs for Peninsula, the hospital has an expanded children’s diabetes program.
“The money he gives us greatly enhances [the program],” she said. “The kids now have a pediatric endocrinologist close to home. He [Mur/] has a genuine interest in the community.”
“What Joe does for the community and the hospital is wonderful,” said Robert V. Levine, Peninsula President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mur/, who noted that he began preparations for this year’s festivities on November 1, said that donations are still being accepted.
Through January 1, there will be a drop-box in front of his home at 144-03 Neponsit Avenue.
“Where we’ll make a difference,” he said, “are the children over the next one to two years who are diagnosed with diabetes.”
To learn more about the JDRF, visit www.jdrf.org; go to www.peninsulahospital.org for more information about their life saving programs.