On The Right

Deceased Yankee’s owner George Steinbrenner left behind a legacy of charitable donations that helped the home city of the Yankees, New York City and Steinbrenner’s adopted home of Tampa.

The Gold Shield Foundation – The foundation provides full college scholarships to the spouses and children of law officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. From books to room and board, it’s all paid for by the foundation.

From Tampa Bay Online.com

After the recent killings of two Tampa police officers, the Gold Shield Foundation – founded by Steinbrenner – stepped in to assist the surviving families. His annual Christmas concerts have delighted thousands of youngsters. Story after story has arisen of how Steinbrenner – without publicity – paid for a high school band trip, stadium lights, a police car or something else his community needed.

From Tampa Bay.com

In the span of two weeks during the summer of 1981, a Tampa police detective and two Tampa firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty.

As George Steinbrenner III read about their deaths in the newspaper, he thought first about their families. When he realized there were no resources available to help them, he created his own.

That’s when the Gold Shield Foundation was born.

“He loved children and wanted to make sure they were taken care of and taken care of properly,” said Joe Voskerichian, executive director of the foundation.

Steinbrenner started a similar program, the Silver Shield Foundation, in New York City in 1980 after he saw a newspaper photo of a grieving family receiving the American flag from the coffin of a slain police officer.

“It’s just been a tremendous thing,” Steinbrenner said in 1997 interview with the St. Petersburg Times. “We don’t understand the problems of families where the man goes to work and doesn’t know if he’ll come home.”

From ABC Action News – Tampa:

Juan Serrano can relate to the families of Officers Curtis and Kocab. When he was 18, his father, Detective Juan Serrano, was killed in the line of duty in 2006. His police car was struck by a hit and run driver.

“It’s very painful. It’s an experience that there’s no words to explain the pain that you receive,” he said.

Fortunately for Juan, the Gold Shield Foundation was there to help.

The Bay area group, established by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, pays all college costs for children of fallen officers like Curtis and Kocab. They paid Juan’s way through USF, and he just graduated in December.

From ABC  Action News – Tampa:

Don Alvino has no doubt.

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Steinbrenner, Jack Willie’s wouldn’t be here,” Alvino says.

Jack Willie’s Tiki Bar and Grill is in Oldsmar. Former Yankee pitcher David Cone and former Yankee pitching coach Billy Connors launched the restaurant and bar.

But in the early part of the decade, the restaurant was floundering. Connors had worked for Steinbrenner and counted him as a friend. The two went and saw Alvino, a local restaurant owner, and asked his advice on what to do.

Initially, Alvino suggested closing the restaurant. But Steinbrenner and Connors came back later and asked if there was another alternative. Alvino had one: Give him $100,000 and see what he could do.

“(Steinbrenner) wrote me a check on the spot,” Alvino remembers.

“Actually I have the check framed.

This was not Steinbrenner’s restaurant. He had not invested any money into it yet. But his friend was involved in it, and Steinbrenner wanted it to succeed. So he wrote the check.

Alvino took the money and turned the restaurant around. He paid back the money in six months.

George Steinbrenner has left a legacy of helping fund schools, supporting families of law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel killed in the line of duty, and giving a charitable hand where needed, whether it was in New York City or Tampa, Florida. His memory will live on through these acts of kindness and that is what made George Steinbrenner a great man.

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