My name is Joe Satriano and I started a tax deductible Foundation in my wife’s honor, Susan, the Susan Satriano Memorial Scholarship Foundation. I have aided 53 High School students with $50,000. These monies are earmarked for their college education. To be eligible for the award they must be a graduating high school senior going in the fall to a college. Those are easy requirements…the third one is unfortunately the most difficult to bear. They must have a parent who has passed away of cancer, or have a parent who is presently battling it. You hear about the cancer patient, you may hear about the caregiver, but you rarely hear about the kids of parents that either have cancer or have deceased due to the disease. The Foundation has been in existence for only 5 years and the number 53 is an astounding one. Mind you, many of these kids, the “silent sufferers” would never be eligible for academic awards simply because their grades suffer as they have now have to take on responsibilities that one of their parent can no longer handle. I get lots of feed back from the kids and more than the monies they receive from the Foundation, they are very appreciative that in effect, I become their mouthpiece and they get the deserved recognition that otherwise would not be forthcoming. It is a joy to see these kids go on to college and in many cases live a dream that their stricken parent would have wanted for them. The Foundation is currently being funded from Sue’s life insurance check, donations from friends, family and local businesses.
This is where the book I wrote “In Sickness And In Health…A Memoir Of Love” enters into the picture. EVERY penny garnered from the book sales goes to the Foundation. The book is about the 13-year battle that Susan and I had with breast cancer. It will make you laugh, cry, but most importantly, it will inspire and move one forward in their lives no matter how bad things get at times. Its message is one of hope, optimism and love. It is the story of Sue’s and my life together. We were married for 29 years and our wedding vows meant a lot to us (thus the title…by the way, I never used the word thus until a became an author!) Even though our story didn’t end the way we had hoped (Sue passed away 2005) we still managed to stay in and play the game of life at a very high level. That is the underlying theme of this book…enjoy what you have in life, friends, family, the nature around you and soak in every minute you can because no one knows what’s around life’s next corner. Sue and I were math high school teachers (yes, we actually multiplied twice in our lives). We have 2 incredibly wonderful children (born on the same day 5 years apart…another math thing!) and we saw firsthand the devastating effects that cancer had on our kids. I think you can see why I need to get the word out about the book to help it to be highly successful…it will give hope to those going through tragedies in life, and it will definitely help many other students to defray some of the high costs of college. It has already helped me by cathartically allowing me to get my feelings out…it’s a win-win-win situation.
On Oct 2nd (Sue’s 5th anniversary of her death) Strawberry Fields, the best Beatles knock-off band you have ever heard or seen will perform a Benefit Concert for the Foundation at 7:30 PM in Oceanside HS Auditorium. All of the proceeds will go to the Foundation.(see attachment) My feet haven’t touched the ground yet! It will be a great night for the audience and for the Foundation, and for all of the kids that will be aided by the monies raised that evening.
I do hope that you take the time to visit the web site www.susansatrianofoundation.com It’s all good, especially when we can reach out and help kids. Just as one time I dreamed about helping kids through a Foundation and dreamed about writing a book, I now dream about keeping the dream alive. Thank you for reading all about it.
Joe Satriano
Trustee/Author
Susan Satriano Memorial Scholarship Foundation
Tax ID #: 20- 6952088
“In Sickness And In Health: A Memoir Of Love”
E-mail: joesue52@aol.com
Tel #: 516 603 5520
Buy the book here : http://www.susansatrianofoundation.com/
You can even get a SIGNED copy 😉
Long Island Entrepreneurs Blog 
I had the pleasure of meeting Joe about a month ago. I just stood there and marveled at this man talking to me, trying to hold back the tears at all times. How he was able to turn the most devastating personal tragedy into a story of hope and caring about others, is nothing short of amazing to me.
I was so touched by his story that I hope to be able to further contribute to his cause.
How wonderful of you to try and get the word out about Joe and the great Foundation he wants to keep alive so he can help others. I know the Long Island networking community will pull together for this great cause.
Debbie Viola