Volunteers, Donations Sought For Gabby Petito Foundation Event

PATCHOGUE, NY — A group of volunteers who are organizing a Long Island fundraiser for the Gabby Petito Foundation are hoping to get some members of the community to step up and help out with manpower and donations.

The $20-a-head event will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday at 89 North in Patchogue with the help of the Blue Point Fire Department, whose members will be serving as fire police for crowd and traffic control, as well as cooks making donated burgers and hotdogs. But organizers say that they will need volunteers to help with operations during the event such as serving food, cleaning up, taking tickets, and other tasks.

They are also seeking donations of food for attendees, as well as goods and services, such as gift baskets and gift cards that can be auctioned off during a silent auction.

In addition to food donated by the fire department and local restaurants, there will also be a cash bar and a 50/50 raffle.

“We would love to see as much support as we can get for this beautiful life that was just cut short for no reason,” said Christian Cabrera, a 22-year-old Miller Place musician who organized the event and whose band will perform sets.

The event will feature live music by Cabrera and his group, The Christian Cabrera Band, as well as Afterburn, Justice, and Half Breeds. Local politicians and dignitaries are also expected to attend, Cabrera said.

So far there has been a lot of support from the community.

89 North has donated the premises for the day and the bands are playing for free, so all of the money collected on the door will go directly to the foundation. The Patchogue Fire Department has also pitched in by allowing overflow parking in their lot across the street.

Cabrera, a former Rocky Point firefighter, said he organized the event because while he did not know Petito, he was moved by her story and described her death as too close to home and “hard to process.”

The 22-year-old Blue Point native, who was born one month away from Cabrera, was found strangled to death in Wyoming on Sept. 19 and no arrests have been made.

When Petito was still missing, Cabrera had thought a fundraiser might help with those efforts, but the idea never got off the ground. Having played fundraisers before, Cabrera figured it would be good for the foundation, so he got a group of bands together with the help of fellow musician, Steve Campo, a police officer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and as well as firefighter Bill Nevins from Middle Island.

“We do it because we love it, and we love people,” he said. “And this is our way of showing our love for some really good people who are really going through a really bad thing right now.”

Anyone interested in getting involved can call Cabrera at 631-807-6354, or email at CJCabreraRPSB@gmail.com. He can also be reached on Facebook at Christian J. Cabrera.

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