When Dan Connor started the Gladiator Fund to raise money for children in the community suffering with catastrophic illnesses, he figured the organization would have a relatively short run.
“I thought it would maybe go for five years at most. For some reason, it just continues year after year,” Connor said.
Twenty-three years later, after raising more than $700,000 to help more than 50 children with a variety of disabling conditions, the Gladiator Fund continues its mission.
The reason has to do with the continuing needs of children who suffer from autism, Down’s Syndrome and other maladies that often require intensive and costly medical treatment. And Connor’s persistence.
That persistence – along with his “philanthropic vision” in founding the Gladiator Fund – earned Connor induction into the Long Island Volunteer Center’s Hall of Fame on Feb. 5 at the Carlyle in Bethpage.
“It was very rewarding, but very humbling to see what other people on Long Island do for young people, the homeless, and the dying. It was an honor after I saw all that,” Connor said.
New Hyde Park resident Collette Coyne, who was previously inducted for her work with the Collette Coyne Melanoma Awareness Campaign, nominated Connor for the honor.
Connor, 54, credits his parents, Joe and Mary Connor, who he said instilled a sense of charity and compassion in their eight children.
“I always liked helping people. My father taught me that. He and my mother always gave back to the community,” Connor said.
Born and raised in New Hyde Park, Connor attended the Notre Dame School, which he said had a big influence on him, and graduated New Hyde Park Memorial High School in 1975.
He subsequently attended Nassau Community College, C. W. Post College, New York University and Adelphi University, and holds masters degrees in Behavioral Science and Social Work.
Connor’s been a social worker for the past 30 years, with the first spark for his vocation occurring on a high school field trip to Creedmoor Hospital in Queens. He recalled that treatment of the mentally challenged was “very shocking back then.” He said he remembers seeing teenagers wearing football helmets to guard against self-inflicted head injuries. But, he noted, it still inspired him.
“I saw the work that was being done there and I decided I’d like to do something like that,” he said.
The Gladiator Fund took shape several years after he had started doing social work.
Close friends of his, Chris and Kate Butz, had given birth to a baby boy, Chris. Chris had multiple medical problems from birth, requiring immediate intervention by many different members of the hospital staff.
So in the spring of 1990, when Chris turned three years old, the newly-formed Gladiator Fund and alumni of New Hyde Park Memorial High School held a benefit dinner/dance at the Knights of Columbus of New Hyde Park to raise money to help pay for his therapy and treatment. More than 240 friends and family members of the turned out and raised $5,000 to give towards Chris’s treatment.
After the event, Dan Connor was approached by several other young parents in New Hyde Park who had disabled children. They asked if we could assist them.
“How could I say ‘No’,” he said.
Connor carried the ball, but enlisted his seven brothers and sisters, Patty, Kathleen, Chris, Jimmy, Joe and Brian – all members of the Gladiator Fund board of directors – and his brother Mickey, Gladiator Fund executive vice president. He credits the spirit of the community for keeping the effort going for nearly a quarter century.
“It really is a great community we have here. It’s been a great success for the community,” Connor said.
The Lion’s Club, the Knights of Columbus and the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce have all been supporting the Gladiator Fund, which is taken from New Hyde Park Memorial High School’s teams’ nickname.
The Gladiators’ next project is fundraising dinner/dance at the Inn at New Hyde Park on April 13 that aims to raise $6,000 for a young girl losing her eyesight, Connor said.
At its annual “Pig Roast” in October, the Gladiator Fund Raised $10,000 for fellow New Hyde Park Memorial alumnus Jay Alverson, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease in November 2010.
“I can’t believe how much work we’ve done. But it doesn’t feel like work. I just like doing this,” Connor said.
Another Gladiator fundraiser, its 17th Annual William F. Kelly Golf Classic, is in August. The organization also maintains a booth at the New Hyde Park Street Fair each fall to raise money.
Along with being a community effort, Connor’s Gladiator Fund effort is a family pastime. He does all the organization’s mailings himself with his 10-year-old daughter Daniella assisting him. His wife, Blanca, who is also in social work, is also a member of the Gladiator Fund board. He brought her to a Gladiator Fund dinner for their first date 14 years ago and they married the following year.
Connor describes himself as “a committed volunteer,” and his community work goes beyond the Gladiator Fund.
A former varsity football player at New Hyde Park Memorial, he coached the high school junior varsity football team from 1977 to 1980. In 1985 he joined the Knights of Columbus of New Hyde Park. In 2007, he became the vice president of Merillon Girls Softball. In 2011, he joined the New Hyde Park Lions Club.
Emulating his father, who coached his baseball team at Notre Dame, Connor now coaches his daughter’s softball team at Notre Dame.
He said the list of children needing assistance in the community has been growing shorter over the past several years. But he knows there’s still plenty of work to do.
For more information about the Gladiator Fund, or make a donation, go to www.gladiatorfund.org.
