Long Island Harley Riders Deliver Easter Joy to Angela's House Children

Dozens of leather-clad riders from Long Island Harley Riders Chapter 3156 pulled into three Angela's House driveways across Suffolk County on March 29, motorcycles gleaming and arms loaded with toys and pillows, the Easter Bunny riding along for children who rarely get to bring the holiday inside a care setting.

The stops in Smithtown, East Moriches, and Stony Brook formed a coordinated Easter weekend run by the Huntington-based motorcycle club, which holds AMA Charter 3156 and is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. For the children inside each home, many of whom require 24-hour nursing care and, in the Stony Brook location, ventilator support to breathe, the motorcade delivered more than stuffed animals and cushions. It delivered company.

Bob Policastro, founder and executive director of Angela's House, put it plainly: "It's wonderful because it helps people understand that our kids, the medically fragile kids, are part of the community."

Angela's House, headquartered in Hauppauge, runs three residential homes described as the first of their kind in New York State. The nonprofit currently supports more than 670 children across Long Island through its Everyday Wishes program, which covers costs that insurance typically refuses: specialty camps, adaptive strollers, therapeutic equipment, home modifications, respite care, counseling, and crisis assistance. Families pay nothing for these services. In 2021 alone, Angela's House granted 757 Everyday Wishes to chronically ill children and their families.

The isolation that comes with raising a medically fragile child at home can compound the caregiving itself. Policastro has estimated that as many as 600 Long Island children live with conditions severe enough to require intensive daily care, often leaving their families cut off from the neighborhood routines most households take for granted. An Easter Sunday arrival of motorcycles and a costumed bunny is precisely the kind of moment he describes as necessary: a visible signal from the broader county that these children belong to it.

HOW TO HELP

Angela's House accepts donations of toys, medical supplies, and financial contributions year-round, all directed toward the Everyday Wishes program. To volunteer, call 631-979-2620 or email info@angelashouse.org. The organization also operates a bargain resale outlet store, with proceeds funding program costs. For information on the Long Island Harley Riders' upcoming charity rides, call the club's hotline at 631-406-4170.