they are temporarily wonderful.
The elderly couple, who have been married for nearly 70 years, have been a Nassau County delight, bringing joy to local children for 20 years and most recently with the help of their dog, Daisy.
Vic and Judy Horowitz, 92 and 88, of Oceanside, have been regular assistants at Brothers and Sisters Survivorship at Mount Sinai (SIBSPlace) for the past 20 years. Ta.
They are the center of attention at the Rockville Center facility, which cares for children whose families are battling serious illnesses such as cancer.
“We have become like their grandparents,” Judy, a former artist, told the Post. “Sometimes I run into them at the grocery store and we're standing there hugging each other.”
Our weekly volunteers know what a simple smile can do for children.
Vic and Judy dress up in Halloween costumes, play games, tell stories from their youth, help with homework, and do a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff to light up SIBSPlace's faces.
Vic happily throws away trash bags in the back bin, and Judy hand-knits blankets for whole families of sick children.
“Basically, we've been lucky and blessed in life,” Vick told the Post. “When we retired, we felt we had an obligation to give something back, and we had the time to do it.”
That's amazing
But nothing gets the kids more excited than the monthly visits from Daisy, the Horowitz Labradoodle, who is trained as a therapy dog to interact with local youth.
The couple, who have been married for many years, also take Daisy to East Rockaway elementary school to read to students as a way to help them develop their language skills more safely.
“They're more excited to see her than we are,” joked Vic, who worked in industrial electronics and lighting. This dog is so popular that it has its own business card, bookmark, and is even featured on a mural outside SIBSPlace.
When Daisy joins the group at SIBSPlace, Vic begins with some simple tricks he has been taught, such as moving her right or left foot on command and bouncing around a small basketball.
Then the real fun begins.
Vic and Judy place red and green buttons on the floor and have the children ask Daisy yes or no questions.
Good kids dashed to the corresponding color and answered correctly in perfect time, causing cheers and cheek-to-cheek smiles.
“When I see Daisy, I'm speechless,” 9-year-old Joseph Mariah, who has known Daisy for about five years, told the Post.
A huge fan of the power couple, Mariah finds it fulfilling to do arts and crafts with Judy and play foosball with Vic.
The boy added that things like that make it easier for him to talk about his feelings.
Another boy in the program, 12-year-old Raz Foster, said he especially liked the conversations with Vic and Judy.
“And they always teach us new things,” he added.
SIBSPlace Executive Director Joanna Formont doesn't mince words: “Vic and Judy are like family here.”
“When I meet alumni of the program, the first thing they ask is, 'How are Vic and Judy doing?'” she told the Post.
Ms Formont also said it would be great for the children to see first-hand what 67 years of love and dedication was like. As fate would have it, this happy couple first met while on a blind date with two others in the 1950s.
“At the end of the day, we liked each other more,” Judy said.
It's nice to know that we're making a difference, but they also want to see more people young and old get involved in local causes and show love to those who need it. I'm thinking of seeing it.
“We don't like to be unusual stories,” Vic said.
