Denis Hamill New York Daily News
Home is where Tunnel to Towers’ heart is.
And so when the leaders of this great charity received a letter about a Long Island volunteer firefighter who died in a ferocious Woodmere blaze a week before Christmas, they did what they have done for 45 other first-responder families across the country who lost a breadwinner in the line of duty.
Jackie Sanford (right), widow of hero Firefighter Joseph Sanford, who lost his life fighting Long Island blaze, and daughter Janisha (left) are grateful for help provided by Tunnel to Towers. Alexander Cohn/for New York Daily News
“We took over the mortgage payments for the Sanford family,” said John Hodge, the chief operating officer. “The same way we paid off the mortgages of the family homes of Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were murdered just before Christmas.”
Hodge said T2T realized that Firefighter Joseph Sanford’s courageous death was overshadowed by the monstrous assassinations of Liu and Ramos in Brooklyn.
Volunteer firefighters have insurance, but their families do not get the same benefits as a city cop or firefighter.
Joseph Sanford fought for his life on a ventilator for four days at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. Then the die-hard Yankees fan from the Deep South took his final breath days before Christmas. For New York Daily News
“But having spent 20 years in Long Island, I can tell you that volunteer firefighters are the lifeline out there,” said Hodge, “truly brave people who put their lives on the line without salaries in their spare time.”
Joseph Sanford, 43, who hailed from Tuskegee, Ala., was a truck driver for the Nassau County Department of Public Works by day and a firefighter nights and weekends for 17 years when he wasn’t going hoarse cheering for his beloved New York Yankees.
So when T2T, named for the heroic run of Firefighter Stephen Siller to the twin towers on 9/11, decided to help Sanford’s family, Hodge decided to call the Yankees.
“We already have a great relationship with the Yankees,” Hodge said. “Everyone who signs up for our annual run gets a Yankees ticket. But we approached the Yankees before the season began about giving us a special deal on 1,000 tickets for the Aug. 4 Yankees-Red Sox game. They gave us such an amazing deal that we are able to sell the field-level tickets, with a face value of $60, for $50. Then Bank of America, which holds the Sanford mortgage, said they’d match dollar for dollar what we raised with the Yankees’ tickets sales.”
If T2T sells all 1,000 tickets, it will be able to pay off the Sanford family’s mortgage, which the charity has already begun covering.
“Joseph had every Yankees jersey and hat you can imagine,” said his wife, Jackie, 46. “I went looking for those jerseys the other day for me and my daughter, Janisha, to wear to the Yankees-Red Sox game. But she reminded me that they were all lost when our Inwood home was destroyed in Sandy, taking in 4 feet of water. We had to gut and rebuild it. We were also paying my daughter’s costly tuition at Long Island University, where she’s majoring in forensic science.”
Since her husband died, Jackie Sanford, who also has a son, Douglas, 27, from a previous marriage, has been supporting her family as an administrative assistant at the Crossroads School for special-education students.
“My biggest bill every month was our mortgage,” Jackie said. “So when Tunnel to Towers took over that bill, it was a blessing, completely changing our lives. Nothing will ever replace Joseph, but this gives us the security of knowing that we will always have our family home.”
Joseph Sanford ran into a different family’s home on that night last December, when more than 200 volunteer firefighters from 13 departments responded to the Woodmere inferno. He was searching for signs of life when the first floor gave way and he plunged into the basement. He was found without a pulse, but was quickly resuscitated by fellow firefighters.
Joseph Sanford fought for his life on a ventilator for four days at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. Then the die-hard Yankees fan from the Deep South took his final breath days before Christmas as the city mourned the murders of Liu and Ramos.
Tunnel to Towers paid off the mortgages for the family homes of Liu and Ramos.
“Now we are honored to do the same for Joseph Sanford, a true hero who gave his life to save others like those firefighters on 9/11, like Liu and Ramos gave their lives protecting this city,” said Hodge.
“Joseph would love it that the money will be raised at a Yankees-Red Sox game,” said Jackie Sanford. “We’ll be there cheering for the Yankees for him, and for Tunnel to Towers, whose generosity has overwhelmed my family.”
For tickets or to make a donation, visit the Tunnel to Towers website.
