ECLI/Vibes, Survivor Advisory Board, Crimes Victim Center, The Retreat, LIADV, Touro Law’s Women Bar Association, Sepa Mujer, SCATI Long Island, Legislator Sam Gonzalez and Staff, Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Human Trafficking Detective Division led by Detective Lieutenant Cassidy and Sgt Linda Piotrowski from the office of Police Commissioner Waring, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., Nu Phi Zeta Chapter, Farmingdale State College, St. Joseph’s University, Various clubs from Suffolk County Community College including Rotaract Club, History Club, Women’s Club, Student Government Association and Campus Activities, Alumni Association and the Human Services Department. Organizer and chair of SCCC Take Back the Night Committee Professor Danielle DiMauro
Save the Date Thursday, April 11, Take Back the Night 2024 at Suffolk County Community College, Michael J. Grant Campus Brentwood, NY
For additional information please contact Prof. Danielle DiMauro ’04 dimaurd@sunysuffolk.edu
How two Amazonians joined forces to close the gender gap in amputee soccer
After bonding over shared experiences, Joan Bolanos Martinez and Cliff Donathan established an organization to empower women with limb differences through amputee soccerA to Z News December 20, 2023
December 3 was International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), proclaimed by the United Nations. At Amazon, we celebrate inclusivity and the contributions of persons with apparent and non-apparent disabilities, and are recognizing IDPD under the theme United in Action, Advancing Accessibility for All throughout the month. Learn more here.
In recognition of IDPD, we’re highlighting two Amazonians who established an organization that empowers women with limb differences through amputee soccer.
Amazon Financial Analyst Joan Bolanos Martinez, a native Venezuelan, played soccer his whole life. But after he lost his leg due to a medical complication in 2007, he had to learn a new way to play the sport he loved.
Joan was introduced to amputee soccer in 2015 after moving to the United States.
“I felt scared because I thought I was too fragile. I remember thinking, ‘what if I break a bone, or what if I fail?’ But it was also really exhilarating, and I remember feeling happy,” he said.
By his third time playing, he was hooked. “I felt seen again, I felt valuable again. I knew this was an avenue for me.”
Cliff Donathan, principal security advisor at AWS, used to take his daughter, Amie, to Seattle Sounders games when she was just 4 years old. She was a natural athlete and competitor, and even though she was born with a rare disability that caused her left femur to stop growing, she dove into the sport.
“I used to coach her in soccer when she was little, and I was real with her. I’d tell her that she’d be the slowest on the field just given her prosthetic, and to grow her competitive edge, we’d just watch hours of soccer on YouTube,” he said.
Amie played able-bodied soccer for six years until she made the difficult decision to leave the sport.
“As the players got faster on the field, Amie felt like she was holding them back,” Cliff said.
Amie soon took to competitive golf and just as colleges were looking to recruit her, she was introduced to amputee soccer and knew she wanted to pursue it.
Amie went on to become one of the youngest members of the U.S. National Amputee Soccer team, and in 2022, competed as one of only two women in the World Amputee Football Federation World Cup. More recently she was inducted into the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) museum where her jersey and crutches are hung on the wall among greats like Mia Hamm.
Amie, pictured here on the left, playing amputee soccer. On the right, is a photo of her being inducted into the FIFA museum, holding her jersey.
Cliff and Joan’s paths crossed when Joan was working for the American Amputee Soccer Association (AASA). They not only bonded over shared experiences, but they bonded over a subtle paradox—while amputee soccer never had a gender requirement and was developed to be inclusive, it was still a male-dominated sport.
Amie herself experienced gender discrimination.
“Amie was about 15 years old playing with 30-year-old men, some of whom would pull her aside and say, ‘you don’t belong on the field,’” recalled Cliff.
Joan also was no stranger to the gender gap. He recognized that it had been more than a decade since a woman joined amputee soccer—that woman being Amie. As a board member for AASA and also working full time at Amazon, Joan made a push for the organization to focus on making the sport more accessible for women. After a failed attempt, he resigned.
Both Amazonians with a shared mission, Cliff and Joan established the United States Amputee Football Federation (USAFF) in January 2023 to elevate and empower all women with limb differences through the support, growth, and inclusion of amputee soccer.
With the goal to hold their first camp on International Women’s Day in March, Cliff and Joan had only two months to set up 501(c)(3), create a website, find a facility, and more.
“In the middle of all of that, my manager Hart Rossman said he wanted to donate to USAFF to help fund women traveling to the event. This meant a lot, and helped legitimize our organization,” said Cliff.
Since then, Cliff and Joan have held camps around the world including in the Ukraine, Mexico, and Colombia to raise awareness of amputee soccer, introduce people with limb differences and their families to the sport, and build partnerships with local organizations that support people with disabilities.
They achieved another milestone when FIFA accepted Cliff and Joan’s proposal to set up a presence at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia, where they could spread awareness of amputee soccer and USAFF’s mission.
A group photo of USAFF volunteers taken at the Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia. Cliff is pictured second to the left, while Joan is fourth from the right. Amie is pictured in the middle.
While there, Joan had the opportunity to participate in interviews with NBC and Telemundo. But the most meaningful moment to him was experiencing seven-year-old, Sam, light up when he saw amputee soccer.
“We gave Sam’s mom a pair of crutches when we first met them at the World Cup. They came back the next day and his mother said, ‘Sam, has been jumping around with the crutches, kicking the soccer ball since yesterday.’ And he did that for the next four days that we were there,” said Joan. “It’s small, yet transformational moments like this make this all worth it.”
Joan pictured here in the middle with FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer Sarai Bareman to his left, and Sam to his right at the Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia.
Cliff shared a similar moment when he saw the joy that came to eight-year-old Maddie’s face when she was introduced to amputee soccer at one of their camps in Texas.
“I watched her go tell her parents that these are her people, just like my daughter did,” recalled Cliff.
Since then, FIFA has expressed interest in inviting Cliff and Joan to all their World Cup events and deepening their relationship with USAFF. Cliff and Joan have also worked to spread awareness of USAFF at conferences around the country, and even had a presence at AWS re:Invent this year where they connected with executives and business leaders who are interested in getting involved in their organization.
As far as their hope for those who experience amputee soccer through USAFF?
“We just want people with limb differences to know they have an opportunity to continue to play a sport they love, and not be excluded from it,” said Joan.
At Suffolk County Community College Joan served as a Senator in the Student Government, a Peer Mentor, Carmen E. Ortiz ESL Scholarship, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and SUNY Chancellor Award.
This Giving Tuesday we encourage support for the Education Without Limits Campaign. In October Suffolk County Community College donors, students, alumni, faculty, staff and elected officials – nearly 200 in all attended a luncheon featured online.
Campaign priority areas include:
Scholarships: we want to increase the number of scholarship opportunities
Hardship funds: to support students faced with a sudden emergency or unforeseen circumstance that results in an immediate financial need.
Naming opportunities: that allow donors to recognize people and/or organizations with meaningful ties to the College and
Academic Program Enhancements: to provide students with enriched experiences customized to reflect the interests of the donor.
The Suffolk Community College Foundation’s mission is to support student access to quality education and vocational skills training by providing scholarships, emergency loans and funding for program development.
The Foundation also engages alumni to maintain their connection to the college, to support foundation events, philanthropy, student mentorship and internship opportunities.
Due to the severity of the rain, the Making Strides of Eastern Long Island walk in Riverhead has been rescheduled for Sunday, October 1st. Check-in starts at 9AM and the walk opening ceremony promptly at 10AM.
Sunday, October 1st
9AM: Check-in
10AM: Walk Ceremony
While we are bummed about the weather, we are still SO excited to kickoff breast cancer awareness month and MAKE STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER!
See you all on Sunday, October 1st at 9AM!
Sincerely,
The Making Strides of Eastern Long Island team
RAIN DATE Sunday October 1st, 2023
Registration 9:00AM Start Time 10:00AM
Grangabel Park Peconic Ave Riverhead, NY
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the American Cancer Society’s premier event to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. But it’s more than just the name of a walk – it describes the amazing progress we’re making together to defeat this disease.
Saturday September 30th Raindate: October 1st, 2023
Grangabel Park Peconic Ave Riverhead, NY
Registration 9:00AM Start Time 10:00AM
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the American Cancer Society’s premier event to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. But it’s more than just the name of a walk – it describes the amazing progress we’re making together to defeat this disease.
Suffolk County Community College, Michael J. Grant Campus Suffolk Credit Union Arena (Map) Brentwood, NY
New York Blood Center (NYBC) declared the first blood emergency of 2023. The blood emergency is due to several evolving factors, including recent poor weather, school breaks and cold and flu season. Last month, NYBC and its divisions across the nation received 6,000 fewer blood donations than the year prior and blood donations are 12% below hospital and patient needs.
The number of blood donations still are not back to pre-pandemic levels. Compounding the problem is a continued lag in first-time and youth donors, which remain about half of pre-pandemic levels. And while New Yorkers are returning to in-person work, office and community blood drives and visits to NYBC Donor Centers are significantly down. People working from home had an easier time donating in our donor centers, but we’re seeing a dramatic decrease at our centers.
“Each winter, we struggle to get folks to donate blood and this year is no exception. We need more New Yorkers to make blood donations, host blood drives and spread the word about the need for donations,” said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Vice President at New York Blood Center. “Last year, we expanded our reach with a new donor center, and we recently announced new donor guidelines from the FDA; we are expanding in every way we can in order to reach new donors. This March, make a blood donation and tell a friend!”
In addition to whole blood donors, platelet donors are urgently needed. With a shelf life of just 7 days, NYBC relies on dedicated platelet donors to help patients undergoing chemotherapy, those with bleeding disorders, new mothers, and more.
Blood donors can give every 56 days, and platelet donors can give twice per month. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently lifted eligibility restrictions for individuals who lived in Europe during certain periods of time. To view current eligibility guidelines, visit nybc.org or call 800.688.0900.
The need is constant, but the supply is not. Visit nybc.org to schedule an appointment to donate, or call 800.933.2566.
Suffolk County Community College Alumnus Silas Kelly, LMSW ’93 volunteered with an alumni presentation to a Human Services Program class for the Fall 2022 Semester. Program Director Caitlin Parzych hosted Mr. Kelly who shared insights from his career in Social Work as well as the benefits of the professional association the National Association of Social Workers. As a past student trustee, Mr. Kelly charts his professional development to experiences at Suffolk as a former student leader.
Silas Kelly, LMSW ’93 Human Services ClassSilas Kelly, LMSW ’93 & Professor Caitlin Parzych, Human Services Program Director
As we enter a national day of service we encourage alumni to consider supporting current students and faculty by volunteering or making a donation today.
A to Z News December 20, 2023
Amie, pictured here on the left, playing amputee soccer. On the right, is a photo of her being inducted into the FIFA museum, holding her jersey.
Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Eta Gamma Alumni Chapter 