An ‘angel’ helps out in the Five Towns

Cedarhurst resident Joseph Santaniello does his share of volunteer work

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Whether it is repaving a parking lot at the Hewlett House or helping children find scholarship money to attend college, Cedarhurst resident Joseph Santaniello wants to be able to help.
The 64-year-old, who came to the Five Towns from Italy in 1957, has enjoyed building his life here and his work with the Peninsula Kiwanis, he said. Santaniello became involved with the club along with a friend about five years ago.
“A friend of mine, a limo and taxi driver, was joining the club at the time,” he said. “He asked if I was interested, and I said yes. It’s a nice thing, this organization, and we get to do a lot for the community.”
One of Santaniello’s projects he’s most proud of is his work at Hewlett House, a center on East Rockaway Road in Hewlett that hosts the program 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition. “Every time I would go to Hewlett House, I’d see people struggling to enter the building in their wheelchairs,” he said. “It really bothered me that they didn’t have better access to enter the building.”
Frank DiNapoli, friend and fellow Kiwanian, has known Santaniello for more than 20 years. DiNapoli described the masonry work his friend did at Hewlett House. “It was a big job he took on himself,” he said. “He saw that Hewlett House had a need, and he saw that someone was going to take care of it. He has the biggest heart in the world, helping his community and others the best he can.”

At Hewlett House, Geri Barish, the home’s executive director, also serves as the president of 1 in 9. She recalls the amount of assistance Santaniello and the others with Peninsula Kiwanis provided her center. From the parking lot to the walls and gutters, she said that he was her angel, always refusing recognition for all the help he’s provided.
“He and his group — if you need a bulb changed, or anything fixed, there’s never been a time when we called them and they didn’t or couldn’t help,” she said. “Our art center had bricks from the walls falling out. The next day, he’d pulled out all the bricks and the walls were fixed. We had a problem with the gutters, I literally turned around and they were cleaned out.”
As for the parking lot, Barish said Santaniello got the Kiwanis club to help. “They were able to secure major donations,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. On the hottest day last summer, they came. They ate lunch out in the hot sun, and continued on with their work until it was done.”
Santaniello said that he just likes to help. “It could be me, or one of us, one of these days, who needs help,” he said. “I don’t believe in just me. I believe in the club. Out of all the clubs I belong to, this is my favorite because we do a lot for people.”