George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees died yesterday....George touched many lives, including mine...I knew of him in the 1980's when I lived and worked in Tampa; and did some work directly for him in 1985. I have fond memories of visiting Tampa Bay Downs while employed by George A. Levy, Inc. when I was in my 20's.
Here's a link to a tribute video of George Steinbrenner. @
970WFLAThe Tampa Tribune has the most thorough tribute to George
Some testimonials from locals in Tampa "Steinbrenner founded the Gold Shield Foundation to help families of police and firefighters who died in the line of duty. He gave a million dollars to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa. He was a major supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs. But a longtime friend says much of George Steinbrenner’s charity took place out of the limelight."
George A. Levy knew Mr. Steinbrenner for many years (as a vendor and friend) and offered these words, care of 970WFLA.com. George A. Levy also has done much work for charities, sports (especially the swim team at U of F in Gainesville) and was instrumental in Tampa hosting the NFL Superbowl. Both George's help put Tampa on the big city map!
"George Levy owned and managed a trophy shop in Tampa until his retirement. He served on the board of Gold Shield and other charitable groups with ties to Steinbrenner. “(He’d help) people who were sick, pay for kids educations. (help out) a waitress at a restaurant who was having a hard time… he just did so many things that people will never know how much he did.”
"Levy says that some of Steinbrenner’s charity was predictable, especially when it came to youth sports and activities. “If he read in the newspaper that a Little League had been broken in (and robbed), you knew he was ready to pay, you knew George would bail it out. A band that was trying to raise money to go to Washington and was thirty thousand dollars short, you knew George would call them. He would respond so quickly.”
Levy recalls another incident at St. Joseph’s, when Steinbrenner noticed a child had been waiting in a wheelchair for an hour. “He asked somebody why they’d been sitting there… (and was told) they had to wait for a van to come because the child’s grandparents didn’t have any way to transport him… and (Steinbrenner) ended up buying that family a van.”
“We’ve lost a great citizen today.”
God Bless you George Steinbrenner; your love of family, youth sports and community have helped make this World a better place! Rest in Peace.
portions of this post are quoted from 970wfla.com
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