Maple Lanes donates $50,000 to veterans organization

Maple Family Centers, the Rockville Centre-based bowling business that has been family-owned and operated for three generations, has donated $50,000 to the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University.

The proceeds will help fund Stony Brook’s 350-bed nursing facility that serves honorably discharged veterans and their spouses with their medical care, an adult day health care service, and end-of-life services.

The LaSpina Family, the proprietors of Maple Family Centers, remain committed to investing in their communities and its veterans through charitable efforts.

With an abundance of help from bowling customers across their five locations in New York and Florida, they have contributed more than $750,000 to the Bowlers to Veterans Link organization—a national charity that supports recreational therapy programs to boost the physical, mental, and emotional health of American veterans and active-duty service members.

John LaSpina, 75, president of Maple Family Centers had spearheaded the charitable efforts in the past as chairman of the board of BVL for nearly a decade before recently retiring from the position.

LaSpina told the Herald that it was the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that inspired him and his company to become more “meaningful members of the communities” that they serve, targeting first responders, active-duty service members, and veterans with their philanthropic efforts. Maple Family Centers and their branches found ways to use BVL to not only benefit veterans nationally but also to make sure that affected locals are taken care of.

“Any company that is in business today should not just take from the community; they should invest in it,” LaSpina said. “The priority for us has always been to help the veterans because they need it the most. They paid the price for our freedom, and people care about our veterans.”

He emphasized that although he and his familial colleagues supply their own donations and designate how the raised funds will be spent, the vast majority of the $50,000 that Stony Brook has received, plus the BVL money that has been raised over the years, has come from donations from bowling customers that are separate from the money they spend to use the bowling lanes.

“My bowlers are very generous,” he said. “The bulk of the money (raised) comes from our bowlers who entrust us with their money that it will be spent the right way.”

The Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University is one of the rare instances of a veteran focused institution located on an American university campus dedicated to caring for veterans in need of its services.

“The LaSpina Family and Maple Family Centers’ unwavering support significantly enhances both the quality of life and the quality of care for our nation’s veterans,” Fred S. Sganga, the executive director of the State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University, said. “The LaSpina Family’s commitment to our veterans is truly commendable, and we are immensely grateful for their dedication to ensuring our heroes receive the respect and care they deserve.”

For more information about the BVL organization and the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University or for more ways to help veterans services through donations and volunteering, visit BVL.org or VeteransHome.StonyBrookMedicine.edu.