Hometown Hero: Rosaria Luppy of Deer Park
Rosaria Luppy was recently named a 2024 Woman of Distinction. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
If there’s community service to be done in Deer Park, Rosaria Luppy is the person to call.
Luppy, a lifelong resident of the hamlet, has compiled a lengthy list of volunteer work through the years ranging from collecting hygiene items for women in local shelters to providing hundreds of pairs of socks packaged to look like holiday cupcakes for older residents through the Deer Park Columbiettes, the women’s organization affiliated with the Knights of Columbus fratental organization.
She is also the founder and president of the Deer Park Juniors, a volunteer group that engages local youth to give back to the community. The group’s activities include beach cleanups, creating holiday cards for local nursing home residents and planting flowers and pulling weeds as part of the Town of Babylon’s Adopt-a-Spot program.
“I do a lot, and Deer Park helps me,” said Luppy, 51, who is a yoga teacher. “It’s always good to just give back. I think that if you give, you’ll get.”
Luppy said she started the Deer Park Juniors about five years ago after her twins, Arianna and Giovanna, “became bored” with their involvement in the Girls Scouts of America. She then collaborated with the Deer Park Community Association, with which she was also involved, and since then the group has offered community service opportunities to dozens of young people.
The group’s first project was a “police appreciation” endeavor in which the members collected candy for gift bags, which were delivered to the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Precinct. The precinct covers the Town of Babylon.
“I have three kids and I want to keep them involved, so I tend to do it for them,” Luppy said of the Deer Park Juniors. “Also, people will say to me that their kids need community service and ask me if there is anything I’m doing. Sometimes I’ll think of something and I just go with it. It’s almost like a calling.”
Luppy’s other efforts have included the distribution of 300 items of winter clothing to veterans at the Northport VA Medical Center and the creation of a little free library at the State Trooper Fabio Buttitta Memorial Park in Deer Park.
Luppy was recently named a 2024 Woman of Distinction by Suffolk County Legis. Tom Donnelly (R-Deer Park).
“Ms. Luppy is a vibrant, important member of the Deer Park community who is passionate about helping others,” Donnelly said. “Her desire and dedication to doing good through giving back is both astonishing and inspiring.”
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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