As Village of Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar’s figures, jumping out of an airplane is the least he could do.
Ehrbar will be making a parachute jump – his first ever – at Calverton Airport on Sept. 22 to raise money for Gift of Life Inc., which brings children to the U.S. for life-saving surgery.
“I volunteered to jump out of a plane. The idea is to assist young children,” Ehrbar said.
The Gift of Life is a project of Rotary District 7250, comprising Nassau County, Queens and Brooklyn, and Rotary International.
“We bring children from third-world countries for heart surgeries,” said Mary Reardon, president of Gift of Life and Williston Park Rotary secretary.
The Rotary Clubs of District 7250 pool funds to pay for the heart surgeries performed at St, Francis Hospital, The Cohen Children’s Center at North Shore-LIJ and Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.
Mary Reardon’s husband, former Williston Park village justice Alan Reardon, was originally going to make the fundraising parachute jump.
But the date for the jump changed and he was unavailable on the new date.
He told Ehrbar about the schedule change and Ehrbar agreed to take his place.
Ehrbar said he very nearly took a parachute jump with his wife, Doreen, when they were younger. But he said she became pregnant, so they decided against doing it. But it’s something that has remained on Ehrbar’s wish list.
“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he said.
Before he makes his jump, Ehrbar said his more immediate objective is to find sponsors to help raise money for the Gift of Life. The goal is to raise $1,500.
The idea of doing a parachute jump to raise money came from Gabor Karsai, a member of Locust Valley Rotary and the board of directors of Gift of Life, Mary Reardon. She said Karsai jumped a couple of months ago.
Reardon said Ehrbar won’t be going solo: 30 members of Rotary Clubs in Rotary District 7250 will also be taking the plunge between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Calverton.
And Reardon said she’s still canvassing for more volunteers.
“Anyone can jump. You don’t have to be a Rotary member,” she said.
Anyone interested in making the parachute jump for Gift of Life can contact Mary Reardon by e-mail at reardon8@aol.com.
