MacArthur Airport runway run to benefit veterans

Looking to lend a helping hand to soldiers returning from combat, Long Island MacArthur Airport will host a 5K run/walk next month to benefit local veterans.

The event will take place on June 5 on one of the airport runways and will benefit Long Island 9-1-1 Veterans, a group that helps veterans and their families with short-term emergencies, such as financial difficulties.

"There are a lot of noble causes out there, but none more compelling than returning veterans who put their lives on the line to protect this country and its freedoms," said Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan, who added that he hopes the race will become an annual event.

The airport's Commissioner of Aviation Teresa Rizzuto last week said the race is the brainchild of three employees, including Artie Turner, a MacArthur law enforcement officer whose son Robert is serving with the Army 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan.

Turner said the 9-1-1 Veterans was chosen because more than 95 percent of every dollar raised goes to people in need. The organization said it hopes to donate $100,000 this year to Long Island veterans.

According to a 2008 survey by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Long Island has more than 2,200 homeless veterans, with more in Suffolk County - 1,261 - than in Nassau or any New York City borough.

The MacArthur race - which officials said will not interfere with flights - will kick off at 9 a.m. There is a $25 registration fee and entrants can sign up online at www.flylima.com/5k-run. More than 400 people have already registered, officials said.

Among those registered are 9-1-1 Veterans member Chris Delaney, a Coast Guard reservist who returned home from Iraq in January. Delaney, who works for the Suffolk Department of Corrections, will run wearing 60 pounds of combat gear in honor of childhood friend Sgt. Joseph Dwyer of Mount Sinai, an Iraq war veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and died from a drug overdose in 2008. Delaney hopes the race will help bring attention to PTSD, which he said quietly impacts many returning soldiers.

"This disease has been around forever and no one wants to acknowledge it," said Delaney, who also ran in full gear in the Long Island Half-Marathon a few weeks ago. "Yes, the homecoming parties are great. But what about after the parties are over? We need to keep this thing going."

For Lindenhurst resident Michael Cirelli, Delaney's organization did just that. Cirelli, 37, served with the Army National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009. He suffered a heart attack after returning home and has had trouble finding a job while he waits for medical compensation from the VA.

"It's been rough," he said. "There are a lot of veterans out there like myself who are either coming home injured or falling on tough financial times or having family problems and the government and the VA takes a long time to get those veterans money."