Patients from Ronald McDonald House Enjoy a Great Day in Scarsdale

Scarsdale Firefighter John Savarese outdid himself to make this year’s Ronald McDonald House event the best ever. This is the third year that the Scarsdale Fire Department has sponsored a day of fun for pediatric cancer patients from Ronald McDonald House in Manhattan and their families, The event was held on Thursday July 19 at the Crossway Firehouse in Scarsdale and Savarese planned an ambitious program to thrill the kids and their parents.

It started with a police escort to lead the bus from the Ronald McDonald House in Manhattan to Scarsdale. Kids arrived at the firehouse and found carnival games and rides to enjoy. Savarese arranged for some classic cars to be on display, as well as a monster truck called Monster Mayhem and two humvees.

But he didn’t stop there. He used his contacts in the military to bring a swat team, and k9 unit in for a demonstration, and in a most spectacular display had skydivers jump from a plane and land at the firehouse to greet the visitors. He had even planned for some skywriters to write “Ronal McDonald House” in the sky, but this had to be cancelled due to the clouds. The Westchester County Police Department landed a helicopter that kids could explore.

He invited a host of local officials to attend including County Executive Rob Astorino and Amy Paulin as well as wounded war veterans.

To fund the venture, Savarese raised $14,000 and purchased 34 trays of food from local restaurants and asked them to donate the drinks.

It was a great day for the kids and everyone involved.

Photos provided by Jon Thaler – see more at: www.JonThaler.com