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Home > Documents > Newspaper Articles > Esposito Has Real Friends at RPI Published in Times Record on December 1972. By JOE AGOSTINEThe finishing touches have been completed ona student-built ramp at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dominic Esposito, who for the past 15 years have had to carry their son, Joseph, a cerebral palsy victim, down a flight of stairs in order from him to receive his treatments. According to Mrs. Esposito, members of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity at RPI, completed the job in about two weeks. Joseph Esposito, the 15-year-old cerebral palsy victim confined to a wheelchair, has to be carried down a flight of stairs and down the porch steps in order to make the daily trip to the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center in Albany. Joseph's father, Dominic, leaves for work at 6:30 a.m., and in the winter months Joseph must wait in the downstairs hall until 8:45 a.m. before his scheduled ride to the treatment center. But through the efforts of members and pledges of Alpha Phi Omega, this winter will be a little easier on the Epsosito's. "They are the nicest boys I know," declared Mrs. Esposito in talking about the fraternity brothers. "They worked industriously, even in the rain" in order to complete the job, she added. Bob Bergamini of Connecticut, a freshman pledge for the group and a volunteer at the CP treatment center, discovered the boy's plight through social worker Richard Jung. Bergamini and other volunteers spent a number of days in preparing a ramp to enable Joseph to scale the porch steps on his own. One Saturday the volunteers, under the direction of Bergamini, spent from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. digging holes, pouring concrete and setting up the base for the ramp. When they could no longer work under natural lighted conditions, the volunteers lined their cars around the work area and turned on their headlights to provide the needed light. Before the idea of the ramp was conceived, Joseph would be carried down the steps by his father and would then wait in a heated garage for his ride to the center, Mrs. Esposito said. In addition to therapy at the treatment center, Joseph is also a sixth grade student at Lansingburgh Elementary School. "He is an extremely bright boy," said his grandmother, Mrs. Bernice Heimburg. "His only problem is in his legs." Joseph's education comes primarily from the Lansingburgh school, but he still requires treatment at the CP center. Since green is Joseph's favorite color, the ramp has been painted just that, said Mrs. Esposito. Joseph's hobbies are collecting cars and helping his mother, Maria, around the house. Three business firms, Garrity Lumber Co., Grimm's Building firm and Valente's Gravel Co., donated supplies for the ramp which, if bought, would cost nearly $1,000. Bergamini solicited help in the project from fraternity brothers Rick Santowski, Charlie Pichetti, Greg DeSalvatore, Brian Goddrad, Lee Licata, Gerry Pinkas, Clyde Blackwell, John Scudiere, Gary Water, Bob Sieffert, George Spagna, Steve Herman, John Thompson and Dave Zuckerbread. Alpha Phi Omega is a year round servie organization and in the past year managed to operate the bail fund for arrested students, run the used book exchange, make school ID cards, run student elections, act as peace corps representatives, and run bus pools to the New York City area during holidays. |
