Neighborhood Giveaways founder wins Dyker award

Sandy Irrera connects those in need with charity-minded residents

October 19, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dyker Heights Civic Association leaders lauded Sandy Irrera for her spirit of volunteerism. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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If you ask Sandy Irrera for help, you’ll get it. And if she can’t help you, she can put you in touch with someone who can. That’s the way friends and admirers of Irrera have described this Dyker Heights resident.

Irrera, a school crossing guard who founded an online charitable organization called Neighborhood Giveaways, will be honored for her volunteerism by the Dyker Heights Civic Association at the group’s annual dinner on Oct. 20 at Sirico Caterers at 8010 13th Ave., starting at 7 p.m.

Paul, Lenny and Frank Pesce, three brothers who own supermarkets in Brooklyn, will also receive awards at the dinner.

The Dyker Heights Civic Association, headed by President Fran Vella-Marrone, was founded in 1928. The annual dinner serves as the association’s only fundraiser.

Irrera is a lifelong resident of Dyker Heights. Prior to her role as a school crossing guard, she worked for 24 years at the Guild for Exceptional Children. The guild provides education, housing and job training for developmentally disabled people.

But she is perhaps best known in Southwest Brooklyn for her volunteerism.

She created Neighborhood Giveaways on Facebook a few years ago to assist families in need and to encourage those who can help to do so. The group typically will post a notice about a person in need of food or clothing and allow do-gooders to step forward to offer help. The group will also post pictures of food items, clothing or toys and then ask if anyone has a need for them.

Irrera also volunteers for several nonprofit organizations, including the River Fund, a group that assists children and adults with life-threatening illnesses; the Women’s Survival Space, a program for victims of domestic violence; and the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

“Sandy Irrera is a volunteer extraordinaire,” Civic Association Vice President Mafalda DiMango wrote in a letter inviting community leaders to the dinner.

“The rewards you get from doing something nice for someone are worth more than money,” Irrera told the Brooklyn Eagle in a 2013 interview. “My mother told me that. She used to help everybody on my block when I was a kid. She was my inspiration.”

The Pesce brothers are being honored for their hard work and business success, according to civic association leaders.

The brothers own three supermarkets and employ nearly 200 employees.

“Paul, Lenny and Frank Pesce are the perfect example of immigrants who arrived in America willing to work hard to enjoy a better life,” DiMango wrote.

The Pesces also devote their time to numerous charities and nonprofit groups, according to civic association leaders. The brothers have assisted the Wounded Warrior Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Federation of Italian-American Associations, the 13th Avenue Merchants Association and the Mola American Association.

They have also helped out with events at two Catholic churches in the Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst area — the Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette on 13th Avenue and Our Lady of Guadalupe on 15th Avenue.