Star Network presents $3,000 check to the Joseph Maffeo Foundation

Honoring a hero.

On Tuesday, August 8, The Brooklyn Reporter and Star Network presented a check for $3,000 to the Joseph Maffeo Foundation near a statue on Staten Island dedicated to the fallen hero.

The foundation commemorates Staten Island firefighter Maffeo who died on September 11, 2001 while responding to the terrorist attacks on the city. He was 30 years old.

Victoria Schneps, Schneps Communications/Star Network co-owner, presented Maffeo’s family, including his sister Linda Manfredi and her husband Keith, who created the foundation, with the check. The money was raised during the Star Network’s “Kings of Staten Island” event, where the Manfredis were presented with the first annual Joseph Maffeo Award.

“My brother was a very unique and giving man,” Linda said during the event this past May. “Because of his work during his short years of life, my husband and I try to take a proactive approach. We felt it was important to keep his legacy alive.”

One hundred percent of the event’s raffle proceeds went to the foundation which benefits the community through its support of individuals and organizations in need of financial assistance, as well as by recognizing, through scholarship awards and charitable donations, individuals who by their actions exemplify its goals and objectives.