The Yankees will pay for the education of slain NYPD officer Rafael Ramos’ youngest son, according to a report in the New York Daily News. Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu, were shot and killed while sitting in their marked police car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.
Liu, a newlywed of only a few months, had no children.
The Yankees will pay for 13 year old Jaden Ramos, who currently attends high school in Brooklyn. The funds come from the Yankees’ own Silver Shield Foundation – which was setup by the late great Yankees owner George M. Steinbrenner III 32 years ago. The foundation has provided education to the children of New York City police officers, firemen and Port Authority employees who have died in the line of duty.
The Yankees also offered to pay for Ramos’ oldest son Justin, who is already enrolled at Bowdoin University. However, school president Barry Mills announced yesterday that Justin will have his remaining tuition picked up by the school.
Steinbrenner and former Olympian Jim Fuchs spearheaded the idea for the foundation after Steinbrenner saw a news report in which four children were folding an American flag at the funeral of their dad’s father, a fallen NYPD officer who had been killed in the line of duty.
Fuchs helped run the foundation until his death in 2010, the same year Steinbrenner passed away. Fuchs’ daughter Casey now runs the foundation, which has paid for the education of thousands of children since 1982, including 700 children who lost a parent in the September 11 terror attacks.
Over four years after his death, the legacy of George Steinbrenner continues to impact people’s lives in a positive way.
Contributions can be made to: Silver Shield Foundation, 870 United Nations Plaza, 1st Floor, New York, NY, 10017.
You can also visit the Silver Shield Foundation website here.
