New Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino and Councilwoman Michele M. Johnson honored a group of local caring mothers known as Team YOLO prior to the August 12th Music Under the Stars performance of Jimmy Buffett tribute band “Barometer Soup” at John J. Burns Park in Massapequa. Team YOLO, an acronym for “You Only Live Once,” has competed annually in an obstacle course running event to raise money and awareness for the Morgan Center, a preschool for children with cancer located in the Town of Oyster Bay. Since it was formed four years ago by Dannie Taylor, a mom from Oyster Bay, Team YOLO has raised in excess of $85,000 for the Morgan Center.
“Whenever a local group gets together and champions an important and worthwhile cause, it is deserving of our recognition and admiration,” Supervisor Saladino said. “The members of Team YOLO are particularly inspirational for all of the work they have done on behalf of children with cancer.”
Members of Team YOLO were recently asked to be guests on the Ellen DeGeneres show held in Los Angeles. “This group of moms took that once in a lifetime opportunity and decided to further build awareness to the Morgan Center and provide details with how people can support the organization’s incredible work,” Supervisor Saladino said. “These selfless and remarkable women are a tremendous source of pride for all of us in the Town of Oyster Bay.”
Since being on the show with Ellen DeGeneres, Team YOLO has used its platform to network with many major sponsors and currently has 65 moms registered to compete in the organization’s next running event slated for October in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Michele M. Johnson, herself a mother of three school-aged children, helped coordinate Team YOLO’s special recognition program. “I was so inspired to see this regular group of local moms who banded together to achieve something extraordinary,” Councilwoman Johnson said. “This sort of spirit and energy is the very fabric of a vibrant community and I want to let this group know they are considered by many to be this Town’s quintessential role models.”
Councilwoman Johnson said the Town of Oyster Bay has an extremely close bond with the Morgan Center because they are based locally out of the Town’s Hicksville Athletic Center.
“The Morgan Center operates in our facility and provides preschool age children battling cancer the opportunity to learn and socialize in a safe environment,” Councilwoman Johnson said. “Children undergoing chemotherapy treatment have a suppressed immune system and the Morgan Center allows these children to interact in a setting where all of the parents understand the inherent risks and the importance of a germ free environment and limiting exposures. It is hard not be touched by the uplifting work being done there.”
The Morgan Center is provided free of charge to the children and their families. Tuition and expenses are completely supported by private donations and fundraising.
“That is why the generosity and kindness of people like Team YOLO should be celebrated,” Supervisor Saladino said.
For more information on Team Yolo, or to support one of their upcoming causes, visit the group at https://www.facebook.com/TeamYOLOMoms/.