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HERALD Cleaning up V.S. State Park
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VOL. 37 NO. 19
MAY 7 - 13, 2026
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Teachers’ union donates to LIJ’s Orzac Center er this school year after the board met to discuss outreach opportunities. Building on The Valley Stream Teachers’ prior efforts such as supporting Association, representing edu- local food pantries, youth cators and school staff across sports teams and blood drives, all four Valley Stream districts, the group sought to expand its expanded its community out- impact. The idea to assist the reach efforts through a dona- Orzac Rehabilitation Center emerged from that tion drive benefitdiscussion, with a ing patients at the focus on supporting Orzac Center for patients in recovery Rehabilitation at and long-term care. Long Island Jewish Fischman, who Valley Stream hoschairs the Public pital. Re l a t i o n s B o a r d The initiative, and teaches fifth organized by the grade at Robert W. union’s Public RelaCarbonaro Elementions Board, tary School in Disreflects a broader trict 24, helped lead effort to strengthen the initiative and ties between educa- NOELLE VILLA coordinated out tors and the com- President, reach to the rehamunity they serve. Valley Stream T he board, com- Teachers’ Association bilitation center. “We love workposed of a repreing for our commusentative from each district, was established to nity,” Fischman said. “We’re all identify meaningful ways for teachers in Valley Stream, even the association to give back though we don’t all live here. I beyond the classroom. Mem- just happen to live in the area, bers include Mardi Beck, and I actually see the fruits of James Fischman, Stephani our labor right in front of us, McNulty and Tara Zamarano, which is a beautiful thing. It’s working in collaboration with nice to bring the community and the teachers’ association VSTA President Noelle Villa. The project took shape earliContinued on page 5
By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO
azingariello@liherald.com
O
Courtesy Leonard Burke
Leonard “Leo” Burke, a 45-year-old Valley Stream volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, is searching for a living donor for his third kidney transplant.
Village firefighter and EMT seeks a third kidney donor By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO azingariello@liherald.com
For nearly a decade, Leonard “Leo” Burke has served the Valley Stream community as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician. Now the 45-year-old father and longtime first responder is relying on that same sense of community as he searches for his third living kidney donor. Burke, a Queens native who moved to Valley Stream in 2015, was in his late 20s when he learned his kidneys were failing due to previously undiagnosed and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
“I wasn’t aware that I had anything, because at 27 years old, really, you don’t know,” he said. “You’re feeling good.” His wife, Rhonda, who has known him since they were teenagers and has been married to him for nearly 24 years, quickly became part of his care journey. After Burke initially began dialysis, his wife pursued testing on her own and was found to be a match. Despite his concerns about the potential impact on her health and their future plans to start a family, she ultimately donated a kidney to him in 2010. The transplant was successful, though the Continued on page 7
ur concern for the community doesn’t end with the school bell.