The formation of the Eric Breslau Blessed by E Foundation is one family's story of taking the pain associated with the tragic passing of one of their beloved members and turning it into a source for positivity and support for their local community.
Massapequa resident Lew Breslau, owner of five Crunch Fitness health club franchises throughout Long Island, is the Founder and Board Member of the Eric Breslau Blessed by E Foundation, an organization created to celebrate the life of his late son and to carry out good deeds in his memory.
“This all began with my son Eric dying of fentanyl poisoning three-and-a-half years ago,” he said. “He took a pill that he thought was an oxycontin and it turned out to be 100 percent fentanyl...it killed him in his sleep that night.”
Lew recalled his son – known to friends and family as "E" and "E-man," a Crunch Fitness manager who lost his life at the age of only 25 – as a kind young man who was fiercely loyal to his family and friends.
“He was a loving uncle, a godfather to his first nephew, an avid skateboarder, and a wrestler at Massapequa High School,” he said. “He was the kindest soul. So many people came out to his funeral...people we didn’t know came up to us and said that Eric had knocked on their door and welcomed them to the neighborhood. That's just the kind of person Eric was.”
After Eric’s sudden and unexpected passing, the family initially needed to take time to grieve and make sense of the tragedy. However, as time went on, Lew noted that they felt a growing need to create a positive legacy in Eric's name. That began with the formation of a foundation that, at first, concentrated mainly on doing good deeds for random people that Lew and his wife Valerie encountered in their day-to-day lives.
“It started as a small Instagram group, called ‘Blessed by E.’ We made up ‘Blessed by E’ business cards that we would hand out and we would go to different places and just do small things for people,” he said. “Valerie and I and Eric’s brothers – Justin, Alex, and Sean – as well as our extended family would pay for people's meals at restaurants, give little random blessings to people, such as waiters and waitresses, things like that. It was our small way of trying to give back.”
“We’re a little stronger a few years later, and we want to make the foundation bigger and touch more people,” Lew continued. “We especially want to fund organizations that helped us as grieving parents. The whole family and many of our friends are involved, and we just created a new not-for-profit to that end.”
The first inaugural event of the Eric Breslau Blessed by E Foundation is taking place this upcoming Tuesday, July 11th at the Crunch Fitness locations owned by the Breslau family, and will take the form of an all-day fundraising event where the proceeds of all sales – merchandise, gym memberships, guest passes, and donations – will go directly to the foundation's mission.
In addition, there will be “spinathons" and “Zumbathons” in the evening where guests can offer donations to participate (call participating locations for details), as well as raffles auctioning off Crunch Fitness memberships and classes and merchandise donated by numerous local businesses. There will also be a free Peak Plus membership with a value of $470 at each Crunch location for the new member that joins the gym closest to the time of Eric's birth on July 11.
Rounding the festivities out will be vendors offering samples of various nutritional supplements, in addition to food trucks at several locations.
“This event was spearheaded by my sister-in-law Susan and our oldest son Justin, who misses his brother very much,” Lew said. “All of our general managers and staff, all of whom knew Eric very well, are very excited to help get this event off the ground, because July 11th was Eric's birthday. Everything that we make that day is going to be going right to the foundation to help further our mission.”
The Crunch Fitness locations that will be hosting the Blessed by E fundraising event on July 11th – which will be an annual tradition going forward – include Amityville, Bellmore, East Meadow, Hauppauge, and West Babylon.
Lew's sister-in-law, Susan Goldstein – Director of Operations for Crunch Fitness' Long Island locations and Eric's aunt – said that she got to hear many loving third-person accounts of the stature of Eric's character from Crunch employees since his passing.
“The two things I always heard is how contagious Eric's laugh was, and how he always liked to have fun and be silly,” she said. “He also would do anything for anybody that he thought needed anything. He was always like that for family, but he was also like that for employees and even gym members...he was always the first person to step up and see what someone needed.”
However, the July 11 fundraiser is merely the first step in the expansion of the Blessed by E Foundation, and Lew said that he has a very clear vision for how it is to evolve, and who they intend to offer support to going forward.
“My wife and I are so grateful to organizations that helped us, and without them I don't know if we'd still be standing today,” he said. “First would be The Compassionate Friends, a national group whose Rockville Centre chapter was really amazing to us. We went to their meetings and we were loved and supported by other grieving parents. It was a major source of comfort for us and the only thing that kept us alive.”
“GRASP, which stands for Grief Relief After a Substance Passing, is another beautiful national organization to help grieving parents, and their local chapter is in Massapequa,” Lew continued. “Another group that we love and have become very close to is GPS Hope, which stands for Grieving Parents Sharing Hope, and we've done a great deal with that organization already in the form of donations and such.”
Expanding the Blessed by E Foundation, Lew said, is a way for his family to do more to support these selfless organizations so that grieving parents and others can find a sense of peace, support, and solace after the passing of a loved one.
“We're hoping as time goes by we will be able to evolve even more and be able to offer scholarships and even larger donations to more groups,” Lew said. “We especially want to support other groups that educate parents on the dangers of fentanyl, as there are too many kids out there dying as a one and done case. They make a stupid decision and try a pill and they die. One and done. It's a disaster and a plague in our country.”
Despite the fact that the loss of his son was a heart-wrenching experience for he and his wife, Lew said that every parent's fear – outliving their child – had to be made to serve a purpose, one that the Blessed by E Foundation will strive to uphold every single day going forward.
“You question as a parent sometimes, ‘why am I still alive when my child is not?’ Well, I'm here for a reason. Even before Eric passed away, my wife Valerie and I were always looking for ways to bless people. So what's better than to bless people in Eric's name?” he said. “We're always looking for ways to do that, and we started small but we're looking to grow so we can touch more lives. The only thing that could bring us real joy right now is to help others.”