Ron and Rachel Collura of Aratas Deli have been collecting funds since March to support the family of former NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller, a Franklin Square native who was shot and killed during a traffic stop on March 25.
On Oct. 17, the Collura family and County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton presented the funds collected for the Diller family.
Diller, a former Massapequa resident, was shot and killed in Queens while performing a routine traffic stop in March. Many police officers including Nassau County officers and members of the 105th precinct — the same precinct Diller served in — came to the deli to pay their respects last week.
“As a resident of Massapequa, this hit me very hard,” said Kevin Mullick, first vice president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association. “This is a tragedy beyond belief and members of many communities have come out and been helpful toward the family. The jar keeps getting bigger and bigger and it all adds up to what this family needs.”
DeRiggi-Whitton presented the jar to residents who gathered at the Deli to pay their respects to the Diller family. While presenting the funds raised by members of the community, DeRiggi-Whitton spoke about the importance of first responders and the support for this effort.
“This was a real grassroots effort,” said DeRiggi-Whitton. “I got a call from Ron and he was determined to do something for the family and people would come in, see the photo and donate to make sure this family was financially secure. This just goes to show the love that we have for our first responders, especially in our police department.”
Aratas Deli has been a staple of the Sea Cliff community for more than a century. Ron and Rachel Collura have been using the deli to give back to the community for many years, raising money for other causes such as diabetes and other first responders in the past. Ron Collura said this has been an ongoing effort since the incident occured and has received great support from customers.
“We have police officers come in here all the time and say we don’t want any money for the food, just put it in the jar,” Collura said. “I see people here today who are always putting money in when they could be keeping the change in their pockets, but they opt to do this. We just try to put ourselves in the place of that wife and that little kid and you just can’t even imagine it.”
Many members of Diller’s former precinct came to pay their respects and donate at the deli. Chris Kiefer from the New York City Police Benevolent Association said it is always nice to see the support for law enforcement, and he knows the money will be put to good use.
“It’s always good to see things like this,” Kiefer said. “It’s always nice to see people who care about law enforcement and come out to support us. I know that Stephanie is going to put this money to good use so thank you to everyone in the community who came out and donated.”
