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Teddy Atlas trains champions.
 by Denis Hamill New York Daily News October 20th, 2009 He also champions the underdog, the little people, the damaged people, the proud people reduced to asking strangers for help in a tough time in the richest city on Earth. Thirteen years ago, he founded the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation, named for his medical doctor father, who used to take Teddy along with him on house calls to the poor of Staten Island, who could only pay him with a cup of coffee and a prayer. Dr. Atlas even built a hospital for the poor. Young Teddy grew up to be an ESPN boxing announcer and boxing trainer who has steered two heavyweight fighters to championship crowns. He's training Alexander Povetkin for an IBF heavyweight title bout next year. But Atlas never forgets the values his father taught him. From the money raised at his annual fund-raising dinner at the Staten Island Hilton, Atlas and his tireless staff at the Atlas Foundation answer the human needs in hundreds of letters received from struggling people. The other day, Atlas selected from a 4-inch-tall stack of these letters. Here's one from a Staten Island woman who has been on the catering staff for the Atlas fund-raiser dinner for several years, listening to the heart wrenching stories about people that were helped. "I never dreamed I would one day need help," the letter reads. "But last year my 6-year-old daughter Gabriella was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma [a bone disorder]. Three months earlier my husband broke a hip. I had to take a leave from work to care for my daughter and husband and my other two kids. Gabby has to be hospitalized every week for treatment. Our bills are mounting. We're trying to do everything we can, including preparing Gabby for her First Holy Communion. Sorry to ask for help, but ..." The Atlas Foundation sent $2,500. The next letter, from a woman named Tara, reads, "Three years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After months of chemo and radiation, the Atlas Foundation helped me when I could no longer help myself. After my recovery, I went back to school, and in June received my AA." Then Tara developed cancer in her hip, requiring more chemo, a hip replacement and learning to walk again. "I've been unable to pay my rent," she writes. "Or my bills. Once again I'm in the position to be unable to take care of myself. I've been turned down by SSI. If I don't pay my health insurance, I can't continue my treatments at Sloan-Kettering. I know there are many people out there who need help. I hate to ask again, but ..." But there's nowhere else to turn except the Dr. Atlas Foundation, which sent $2,000. The next letter was from a man named Howard who lost three sons in a five-alarm house fire on Staten Island in February. He's living with his devastated wife in a motel on Staten Island. "It's very hard writing this letter because I can't put into words the grief that my wife and I feel," he writes. "I'm asking for some monetary help so that I can try to get new housing and rebuild our lives." The Atlas Foundation sent $2,000 to the couple, who will spend this Thanksgiving with three empty chairs at the table. The next letter is from a retired NYPD cop from Brooklyn named Derek with 8-month old twins, one of whom has a rare metabolic disease called methymalonic acidemia homocystinuria, which could cause retinal and optic nerve damage, kidney failure, cardiac disorder or death. "Kyle's illness is managed with special medications and formula," the ex-cop writes. "But our insurance company barely covers a quarter of the medication. They will not cover the formula. They refuse to cover the most important medicine that keeps Kyle alive or the treatments in Mount Sinai, the only hospital in New York with experience in treating this disease that has afflicted only seven people in the metropolitan area. We've also been denied by Medicaid and Social Security." Risk your life as a cop and you are forced to write the Atlas Foundation to get help in saving the life of your infant. Atlas was so touched that this couple wanted to share their $2,500 check with another couple whose kid suffers from the same disease, that he wrote a second $2,500 check for that couple. "I watch this health care debate and wish these politicians could read the letters I get," he says. "I think they'd get back their humanity that a lot of them lost along the way." This year's Atlas Foundation dinner will feature celebrity guests including James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico from "The Sopranos," Chris Noth from "Sex and the City" and Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants. And Teddy Atlas, who makes champions and always champions the underdog. For tickets to the Nov. 19 Dr. Theodore Atlas Dinner, call (201) 293-2606 or visit www.dratlasfoundation.com. |
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