STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island restaurants tend to be very generous with causes. But it's very first fundraiser for Joe Broadway's South of Great Kills this Saturday.
And, it's the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Army's 111th Sapper Company First Engineer Battallion, the First Infantry division. The crew wants to have a reunion at their old station in Kansas. What that means to Great Kills resident and Army Vet Corey Candrilli is a rally for the former servicemen, many of them disabled from duty in Iraq. Although Candrilli's had little luck with a GoFundMe.com page he started and that's why he turned to his favorite neighborhood watering hole for help.
So, turning 15 percent of its gross sales over to Candrilli's Army Infantry on April 16 is owner Joe Polimeni (the "Joe" in Joe Broadway's South. (This is where Hylan Park Place lived briefly.)
The goal is to raise $10,000 all together that night. And, if that happens, the men and ownership will turn the remainder of the money over to the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation.
"He was the person who American Sniper was based on," offers Candrilli. Also, there is a $10 optional contribution at the door.
The time at the reunion in The Sunflower State, says Candrilli, is "time to talk and reconnect plus talk to new soldiers in the unit."
He's hoping fellow Staten Islanders will see the effort as kid-friendly. So, between 5 and 7 p.m. there re face painting and costumed characters for the family crowd that might dine early.
Candrilli explained what his crew did over in Iraq: "What we were in charge of was to find any IEDs (Improprovized Explosive Devices). Our sole purpose was to find and disarm these IEDs So we were the first ones on the roads and made the roads safe for everyone else."
Raffles, including restaurant and tattoo gift certificates, and a 50/50 are part of the evening.
For more information, contact Candrilli directly at corycandrilli@gmail.com. The restaurant, which serves bites like nachos, sandwiches and wraps plus soups, burgers and salads, is located at 4029 Hylan Blvd., 718-384-6882.