New York’s Staten Island. Sunshine Sunday, an annual fundraiser benefiting the Lucille & Jay Chazanoff Sunrise Day Camp-Staten Island, will be held on February 2 by the Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC of Staten Island.
Sunrise Day program-Staten Island, a free summer program run by the JCC, helps kids with cancer and their siblings rediscover the joys of childhood. Located on the Staten Island Academy campus in Dongan Hills, Sunrise Day Camp-Staten Island is a proud member of the Sunrise Association.
Understanding the tremendous financial burden that a child’s chronic illness may place on a family, Sunrise Day Camp is offered without charge and without regard to religion.
For children with cancer and their siblings, Sunrise Day Camp-Staten Island delivers amazing summer activities that allow them to simply be kids, according to Orit Lender, CEO of the JCC. Thanks to the kind support of our community, we are able to offer this amazing resource to families at no cost through events like Sunshine Sunday.
The Sunshine Sunday committee, led by Dr. Andrew Olsen and Gabriella DeLuca Garrone, is pleased to recognize George Christo, Lynne Persing, Jennifer Russo, and Dayna Scarso as four exceptional community leaders for their commitment to Sunrise Day Camp-Staten Island.
Sunshine There will be dinner, beverages, raffles, and dancing on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Old Bermuda Inn in Rossville. A one-night vacation and dining experience at the Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad in Manhattan are the grand prize lottery prizes for this year. A week-long stay on Siesta Key, a four-person supper at Grand Banks, sports tickets, and designer accessories are some of the other exclusive raffle prizes. You can buy tickets online in advance for unique raffle prizes. The winners don’t have to be there.
The following website offers sponsorships, raffles, and event tickets: https://sijcc.networkforgood.com/events/77860-sunshine-sunday-2025.
JCC board members Ed Sappin, Solomon Chemo, Sue Sappin, Orit Lender, Tom Olsen, Gail Castellano, Jay Chazanoff, Randi Stern, and Jack Stern are shown on the left side of the 2024 Sunshine Sunday photo. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island
About the honorees
Christo, George
Born in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge, George Christo relocated to Staten Island in 1996. He is the president and creator of DOORtoDOOR Realty, a real estate and property management company that prioritizes community involvement and innovative architecture. Under his direction, impoverished neighborhoods have seen a transformation thanks to first-rate housing.
Additionally, Christo established Bridgeview Venture Partners, a cloud computing, fintech, and blockchain-focused private equity business. The company specializes on late-stage investments and gets businesses ready for IPOs. He is vice president of the New York Building Industry Association and president of his Miami Beach, Florida condominium board.
Christo, who is well-known for his generosity, organizes Staten Island’s Night in White to help vulnerable young people by working with groups like Sunrise Day Camp and the Grant Cardone Foundation. Along with being a member of Verrazano Kiwanis, he is passionate about restoring vintage cars, restoring Mercedes, Corvettes, and Porsches to their former splendor.
Antonia and Constantine, Christo’s two children with his wife of 20 years, Sabrina, are proficient in Greek and spend their summers in Athens, Greece.
2024 Sunshine Sunday: Andrew Olsen, Tom Olsen, Sue Sappin, Orit Lender, Jay Chazanoff, and Angela Olsen, from left. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island
Persing, Lynne
Uplifting individuals in need has been Lynne Conhagen Persing’s life’s work. Before joining her family’s company, Alfred Conhagen, Inc., where she held positions including director of human resources, she started her career as an assistant manager at E.J. Korvette. She worked with brokerage firms and YMCA Counseling Services after taking a hiatus to raise her family. She retired in 2016 but remained a consultant for Conhagen Corporations.
Persing, a lifetime supporter of young people, took former athletes to Staten Island schools to tell their tales of triumphing over hardship. She earned money for camp scholarships through the JCC’s Golf & Tennis Classic and helped families during COVID-19 and after Hurricane Sandy. She organizes carnivals and holiday celebrations for kids with cancer as a devoted supporter of Sunrise Day Camp.
Persing joined South Shore Rotary in 2018 and has won several awards, including Rotarian of the Year and the Carl Rosenberg Award in 2023. She also donates to groups including Soroptimist International, the Cross Road Foundation, and the Staten Island Philharmonic. She was recognized by Advance/SILive.com as a Woman of Achievement in 2024.
She likes to go on vacation with her partner Joe, see Broadway performances, and dance in ballrooms. Her ten great-grandchildren and eighteen grandchildren make her proud.
Sunshine Sunday 2024, hosted at the Old Bermuda Inn in Rossville, features a group portrait taken by JCC employees. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island
Russo, Jennifer
For 28 years, Jennifer Russo, a native of Staten Island, has taught in the public school system at the Petrides School. She received a Stage 4 Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma diagnosis in 2019 after a mass in her neck was found. She entered remission following eight chemotherapy sessions, but in 2020 she relapsed. She received a life-saving cord blood transplant during the pandemic.
Chronic graft-versus-host disease, sepsis, and a severe episode of COVID-19 that resulted in pneumonia and an intensive care unit stay were all part of her difficult rehabilitation. Russo fought a mycobacterial infection and resumed teaching in 2022 in spite of these challenges.
Russo, who is currently in remission, is an Honored Hero at the 2022 Light the Night Walk, a volunteer event organized by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Motivated by her personal struggle to give back, she co-hosted the walk in 2023.
Russo acknowledges the steadfast support she received during her journey from her husband, Michael; her kids, Ava and Olivia; and her family and friends.
Sunshine Sunday, 2024: Angela Olsen and Orit Lender, the CEO of the JCC, exchange a smile. (The Advance of Staten Island)Advance of Staten Island
Scarso Dayna
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Dayna Louise Fiorillo Scarso had a love for dancing and performed both off-Broadway and commercially. She spent 15 years as the head of human resources for a department store after earning a degree in business administration and photography from NYU.
Scarso turned her attention to real estate when she and her husband, Manni, had two kids, Pietro and Nico, before learning the heartbreaking news that Pietro had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Pietrosfight.org, a group devoted to raising money and awareness for a cure, was founded in 2012 as a result of this.
Additionally, Dayna and Manni have provided wheelchairs, accessible cars, and house adaptations to families impacted by Duchenne. Her commitment to her family, friends, and other charity foundations is the only thing that can rival her capacity to mobilize her community. Her sons have learned from her the value of giving back and leading resilient, hopeful lives.
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