Jeff Tuccillo (Katohan, NY) – owner of Salon 777 is running the 26.2 mile race this year to benefit Sylvias Children. He has been practicing for two years and is now ready to run. In order to compete, Tuccillo had to run nine qualifying races in 2010 to be eligible. In addition, he had to be a member of the New York Road Runners Club prior to January 31, 2009 and volunteer for one race within the running calendar year. Entering its 41st year, the ING New York City Marathon has grown from 127 runners in year one to more than 40,000 this year.
When asked why he is running this year, Tuccillo answered I need to make a difference in Sylvias Children. Sylvias Children is an eight year old 501(c)3 charity that supports the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary and Day Care Center in Uganda, Africa. Supporting 1,000 children, of whom 250 are orphans, the school is a model school that is allowing the children to become educated and break the poverty cycle. Several years ago I donated the money so the school could have a library in my wifes name, stated Tuccillo. Today the children can go to the Vicky Tuccillo library and select from the thousands of books for both class and pleasure. Now I need to raise a minimum of $10,000 so we can buy 40 treadle sewing machines and construct a building to house them. This way the children can learn a trade plus we can bring in the widows when school is over and teach them to sew uniforms. This provides employment for the widows and a revenue stream for the school so they can be self-reliant.
The Tuccillo family is amazing, stated Sylvia Allen, founder of Sylvias Children. Their kindness, generosity and love of these children is amazing. Vicky, Jeffs wife, has come with us three times and is looking forward to returning again. The children, too, are anxious to see her. Her loving heart just radiates and they are drawn to her.
Salon 777 is located at ___________________ and is open ______________________________. If you want to make a donation you can stop in and drop off a check; you can call and ask them to send you a form or you can go to www.sylviaschildren.org, click on the DONATE NOW button and indicate how much you would like to donate to help Jeff reach his goal of $10,000.
