Elected officials offer assistance to local veterans ahead of the holidays
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Service members around the country can struggle to make ends meet, but for those stationed in New York, the cost of living can make things even harder, particularly around the holidays.
To help local service members stationed at Fort Wadsworth, local officials have announced new initiatives in recent weeks, including a holiday winter drive organized by Borough President Vito Fossella.
“Many of our military families living on Fort Wadsworth struggle to make ends meet,” Fossella said. “We appreciate their service to our country, and the least we can do to give back is support them with necessities through the winter.”
More than 300 donations were made by the FDNY, the Staten Island Zoo, Amazon, National Grid, the Angiuli Group, the Verrazano Kiwanis Club and generous citizens, according to Fossella’s office.
The borough president thanked Americorps Senior RSVP, a federal program that pairs Americans age 55 and older with community organizations, and Staten Island University Hospital for helping facilitate the drop off at Fort Wadsworth Dec. 12.
Earlier that day, Fossella joined the Craig Newmark New York Tri-State Chapter of Blue Star Families, a non-profit organization that supports military families, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a refurbished food pantry at Fort Wadsworth for military families.
Most members of the armed forces aren’t wealthy, and when someone gets stationed in the five boroughs, adjusting to the local cost of living can be a challenge, particularly on Staten Island.
Local service members are grouped with New Jersey for cost of living adjustments, so those serving at bases in the four other boroughs actually receive higher wages than those on Staten Island through the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
BAH is a monthly payment to active service members living in private housing calculated using median area rents and average utility costs. The four other boroughs are traditionally grouped together while Staten Island is grouped with New. Jersey. The allowance covers about 95%
However, Rep. Nicole Mallitoakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) announced last week that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which she voted in favor of, would include 5.2% pay raises for service members and for a federal study on pay parity for Staten Island service members.
“Last year, 25% of active-duty service members relied of some sort of food assistance to survive, including more than 300 U.S. Coast Guard families at Staten Island’s Fort Wadsworth. This is unacceptable and exactly why today I proudly voted for the NDAA,” Malliotakis said. “When I came to Congress I immediately began advocating to increase the BAH for Staten Island military men and women and today, they are receiving more than $500 more, with the average BHA being $3,716. Additionally, today’s legislation will require a study to further examine how we can help put Staten Island service members on par with the rest of the city.”