Kaylee Surace will Answer the Call with an 88-mile run to the Montauk Lighthouse

Although she was just a middle schooler at the time, Kaylee Surace remembers when her then-assistant principal lost her husband, NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo.

"Being a young mother of two boys at the time ... I can’t imagine what a challenging time that could have been for her," Surace, 26, of West Islip, said of Lisa Tuozzolo, the sergeant's widow. "I think about all the other families that go through that. I have a brother who’s in the NYPD as well, and he has a wife and two beautiful kids. It just hits close to home."

The Beach Street Middle School student became a personal coach who has trained first responders. She's now decided to run in their honor. At 2 p.m. Friday, Surace took the first steps of an 88-mile, 24-hour journey from West Islip to Montauk Lighthouse to raise $10,000 for Answer the Call, the nonprofit also referred to as the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. The charity, which secured her bib for the New York City Marathon next month, helped Tuozzolo’s family after he was fatally shot while responding to a domestic call on Nov. 4, 2016.

To Surace’s surprise, her former assistant principal, who recalled Surace as "a sweetheart" and "a good student," arrived at her home on Friday afternoon to present her with a challenge coin she had minted to honor the fifth anniversary of her husband’s death and a police patch bearing his name she could carry on her journey. Tuozzolo said she presented these coins to people "that make a difference; the ones that carry on Paul’s mission and legacy of doing good for others and making the world a better place."

Tuozzolo and her fiance, Michael Vandenburg, then presented Surace a check for $2,500 on behalf of Promise of Hope Foundation, a nonprofit Vandenburg founded to cover funeral expenses for families who lose a child or a first responder, plus a personal $1,000 donation.

"It means the world," Tuozzolo, of Huntington, said of Surace’s fundraising effort. "For me, as long as we keep saying Paul’s name, I know that he will keep living on in others."

Although Surace did not tell many folks about her run, her co-worker at National Grid, Wendy Frigeria, informed other colleagues who cheered the runner on Friday. Frigeria also told police agencies, the Town of Islip and the West Islip Union Free School District.

"I’d like to bring her to town hall at a town board meeting and let the public see how there are wonderful people out there who do things just because they’re a good thing to do," Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said Friday after presenting Surace with a citation commemorating her charity run.

In addition to the family and friends gathered on Surace’s front lawn, NYPD and SCPD officers arrived to thank her, and one Suffolk police SUV escorted her toward Montauk Highway, the roadway she will travel for 88 miles.

"When it’s a line of duty death, we come out of the woodwork to support our own," said Det. Tanya Duhaney, of the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau.

In addition to years of training and loading up on carbs Thursday night and Friday morning, Surace said she mentally prepared for her longest run yet.

"I think you just have to have fun with it," she said. "Running teaches you a lot about discipline, teaches you a lot about yourself, a lot about community and all the people that come together to support you when you’re trying to go through a big goal."