Community Corner

Brookfielder Peter Brady Chosen as Yankees 'All-Star' of the Year

Brookfield Volunteer Handyman will join the Yankees at the 2010 All-Star Game

Brookfield handyman, philanthropist and Yankees fan Peter Brady has been chosen as the 2010 Yankees "All-Stars Among Us," and will join 29 other humanitarians from around the country at the 2010 MLB All-Star Game.

In May, Brady was one of three finalists out of thousands nominated for "serving their communities in extraordinary ways" for his work creating and running Handy Dandy Handyman Ministries (HDHM). On June 28, after three weeks of online voting (with 1.7 million votes cast), Brady won out and was chosen to represent Yankees nation at the All-Star Game on July 13 in Anaheim, CA.

In 1998, Brady began volunteering as a handyman for fellow parishioners of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Brookfield. In the first outing of what came to be known as Handy Dandy Ministries, 10 volunteers raked two elderly parishioners' lawns. Brady retired from Nestle in 2000 and, with the urging of then-Pastor Larry Carrol, took to his ministry full-time. Handy Dandy Ministries now helps over 400 clients a year, according to Brady, with over 1,000 volunteers coming together for the annual Rake n' Bake every November to rake 75 yards in three hours before enjoying each other's fellowship over a meal at Brookfield High School.

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Besides helping around the house and yard, HDHM organizes one or two "home makeovers" a year, where volunteers clean out the homes of elderly or disabled persons in the community. The makeover is more than just a spring cleaning, according to Brady, as they redo all of the floors, remodel the kitchen, gut and replace the bathrooms, paint inside and out and sometimes put a new roof on the house. They've completed six of these remodeling projects to-date.

"To think that we raked leaves for two people 10 years ago and now all this," Brady recollected. "It's totally amazing."

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Handy Dandy Ministries holds weekly tag sales to raise funds for their makeovers, with a silent auction of donated items. "The Holy Spirit guides us through this ministry," Brady said, "but we're independently funded."

Brady was nominated twice this year, once by Kathleen Hlavac, of Brookfield, and again by Patricia Gill, of South Salem, NY.

As a lifelong Yankees fan, Brady is excited and grateful for the honor. On June 15, he and the other two finalists were treated to skybox tickets to a Yankees game and presented with a ball autographed by the entire 2010 team during batting practice before the game. On July 13, he and his wife, Carol Ann, will venture to Anaheim for the All-Star Game. "It's a once in a lifetime deal," Brady said.


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