Help Jerry Mazza Stay Home

Help Jerry Stay Home

We are starting this fundraiser on behalf of our incredible friend, Jerry Mazza. We want to share his story and what he and his family have been bravely and quietly going through over the past year.

Last Fall, Jerry started to feel some numbness and weakness in one hand. That simple “ailment” quickly turned into what most people would acknowledge is one of the worst medical diagnoses, ALS.

Where are the places most of us feel the most comfortable, - in our skin and in our homes. ALS robs people of both of those comforts. We have all seen bucket challenges and Lou Gehrig speeches about ALS. We all have some general idea of the horrific nature of this disease. And while we might understand what it does to a person’s body, we do not perhaps realize what it does to their lives. Do we realize that all the comforts of home no longer exist? The perfectly kept bi-level house that so many of us know so well, that has hosted block parties, Christmas parties and countless other celebrations, now will become a challenge at every turn. Jerry wants to stay in his home. But he needs to build a bathroom that can accommodate a wheelchair, have a bedroom that doesn’t require steps to get to, have access in and out of the house and have a vehicle that can meet the needs this cruel disease will require.

Currently there is no cure for ALS. It is estimated the disease costs loved ones an average of $250,000 a year to provide the care people living with ALS need.

Jerry has a decades long career as a writer/news producer at CBS News. And yes, he does have medical coverage. But NONE of the renovations necessary to keep Jerry home are covered by insurance.

Jerry has written thousands of news stories during his successful career. This is certainly not the story he would have written for himself nor for anyone else. Upon his diagnosis, family and friends all commented that Jerry being the good guy that he has always been, does not deserve this disease. But rather than complain, Jerry, the master of taking the high road, simply said, “No one deserves ALS”.

Jerry and his wife, Kim, have lived in North Massapequa for over 30 years. They, along with their three children, Jackie, Kati, and Brian, have been a large part of the Farmingdale community.

Whether you call Jerry your co-worker, neighbor, friend, cousin, uncle, brother, son, father or husband, one thing we all know is whenever we call him, he is there for us. It is our turn.

Please consider donating whatever you can to help keep Jerry’s home a home he can stay and live in with his incredible family.