Published: 07/11/2006

Helping in the community is great in itself and we also would like to make sure that we are not only WOWing our guests but WOWing our staff as well.

Unfortunately, the past couple of months we have had two major losses with employees who have lost their loved ones. Larry Sapp who recently lost his wife and Michelle Vitale who recently lost her father a veteran Port Authority Police Officer. Both stories are both sad and unfortunate, but it was the staff here at Expressway Plaza that turned two tragic events into WOW events. Lauren Venturelli a server here for 1 year took it upon herself to raise over $1,200 for Larry to help him out with the funeral costs for his wife. Erin Gardner a server who has moved through the ranks from a hostess help raise over $1,000 to have donated to the foundation that takes care of families of fallen port authority officers. It is employees like these two that really put the meaning of WOW into full perspective.

Justin Orman
Manager
Applebee's
Expressway Plaza, Staten Island