'What Thanksgiving is all about': Breezy Point teen raises $80K, lifting spirits in devastated hometown

MomT's picture

NBC News By Bob Sullivan

John Makely / NBC News Standing in front of what remains of his aunt's house, Matt Petronis takes in the burned section of Breezy Point, N.Y., where more than 100 homes were destroyed by fire at the height of Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29. It was his first day back in his hometown from college since the storm.

Matthew Petronis sat in his dorm room on Oct. 29, watching TV in horror as "my childhood burned down."

Petronis had spent the past three summers working as a lifeguard on Breezy Point beach, and had spent the first 19 years of his life learning how to walk, read, swim and throw a baseball in the idyllic Queens, N.Y., neighborhood. A sophomore at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., he thought he was a safe distance from Sandy's unforgiving storm surge. But as the first reports of a devastating fire on Breezy Point began to circulate, fear gripped him. His schools, his friends, almost everything he knew was there. He'd celebrated all 18 of his Thanksgiving Days with family there.

To read the rest of this story visit NBC News

 

Category: 

Comments

Oh this is so wonderful!!!

astreia's picture

I hope that everyone will read the entire article. This is a beautiful story!

Love, Astreia