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by ROB HART
Stephen Siller, an off-duty firefighter from West Brighton, sprinted the length of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel on Sept. 11, 2001, only to have his life taken at Ground Zero.
Although his bravery has been well-documented, many people may not know that his parents died when he was a child, leaving him an orphan. Siller's dedicated siblings helped raise him, but many disenfranchised youths aren't so lucky.
Which makes it only fitting that the charity foundation established in his name donated $35,000 for the purchase of new bedroom furniture at New York Foundling's Staten Island Reception Center in Stapleton.
"It'll make the accommodations a little more cozy for the kids who are here," said Siller's brother, George Siller of West Brighton. "The furniture was sterile, a little beat up, and he would have wanted to make the kids a little more comfortable while they were here."
Family members who make up the Stephen Siller/FDNY "Let Us Do Good" Children's Foundation toured the facility yesterday, to witness another way that Siller's memory is kept alive.
The center houses youngsters who have suffered abuse and neglect in their homes for a three-month period. It usually serves about 24 children, ranging in age from 13 to 15, at a time.
While the old bedroom furniture was a mess of worn wood, graffiti and beaten mattresses, the new beds are fit for a king, and the bed frames, wardrobes and dressers are solid and clean.
"The kids and the staff are very excited about the new furniture," said Patricia Rossmy, New York Foundling's regional director of Staten Island services. "It lets you look at this place in a new way, as a place with possibilities as opposed to just an old building."
The money came from the Firefighter Stephen Siller "Tunnel to Towers Run" -- a five-kilometer run/walk through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which the foundation organizes annually to raise money for charitable projects.
"Stephen would love to know that through his spirit, he's helping children," said his brother, Frank Siller of West Brighton.
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