Pictured from left are Jim Haid Executive Director; Mike Marley, Denise Marley, Ernie Talerico Dir. of Operations.
Pictured from left are Jim Haid Executive Director; Mike Marley, Denise Marley, Ernie Talerico Dir. of Operations.
Pictured from left are Jim Haid Executive Director; Mike Marley, Denise Marley, Ernie Talerico Dir. of Operations.

Patrick Marley’s legacy continues to impact people in need

Patrick Marley’s impact on the staff and programs of the Rescue Mission of Utica lives on long after his death, Rescue Mission Executive Director Jim Haid said as the Marley Family presented a check for $10,000 Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

“The staff first got to know Patrick as a client, recovering from addiction,” Ernie Talerico, Director of Operations. Marley later became a Mission employee in the Food Service Department. He also organized prayer groups and Bible study sessions, and became a star athlete on the mission’s softball team.

“Thanks to his family holding an annual memorial golf tournament, Marley’s legacy lives on both in funding urgent needs for mission clients and through the Patrick G. Marley Memorial Scholarship fund; which provides food, education, recreation and job assistance,” said Haid.

The $10,000 donation represented proceeds from the seventh annual Patrick G. Marley Memorial Golf Tournament, held in mid August at Kanon Valley Country Club in Oneida. In 2010 the family of Patrick Marley, who died in a swimming accident in 2009, decided to hold a benefit golf tournament.

The golf event has raised $62,500 in its seven year history, noted Patrick's brother, Mike Marley of Oneida. Each year, Mike and his wife Denise and sister Diana organize this successful event.

The Rescue Mission was “such a big part of Pat’s life” that the family felt it was important to do something to help people in need through the mission, said Mike Marley, who echoed the sentiments of his sister, Diana Marley of Manlius, who had told Mission staff: “We will always love and appreciate everyone here at the Rescue Mission for what they did for my brother…They rescued Pat!”

Each year, the Rescue Mission serves over 138,000 meals to the hungry, provides over 44,000 nights of lodging and care to those facing homelessness, assists 707 men and women in their battle against substance abuse, provides over 13,000 articles of free clothing to men, women and children, and helped 86% of the shelter residents find permanent housing.

By martha

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