Proceeds from Kait’s Angels yard sale to benefit community members, honor fallen FDNY hero

Kait’s Angels will hold its annual community yard sale Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Doorhy family home in Mattituck from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The organization, established in 2014 after the death of Kaitlyn Doorhy, collects items from the public to sell each year and donates the proceeds to two individuals in the community.

As this year’s event falls on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the group has chosen to honor the late Lt. Geoffrey Guja, whose family will receive a portion of the proceeds. Lt. Guja, a former New York City firefighter, died after he responded to the collapse of the towers from his Brooklyn firehouse.

Lt. Guja grew up in Massapequa with siblings Gary, Howard, Patty and Judy. In addition to 13 years with the FDNY, he worked part time as a registered nurse at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.

Erica Guja is his niece and the secretary for Kait’s Angels. She said their family is touched by this donation. 

“The proceeds would go to memorializing my uncle in some way, whether it’s a monument or finding a cause that has to do with other firefighters and families that were affected by 9/11. We’re still brainstorming on a way to carry on his legacy in a way that would honor him,” Ms. Guja said.

Partial proceeds from the yard sales will also go to Jaclyn Hinderliter, who has been battling breast cancer since receiving the diagnosis in November 2020, on her 34th birthday. She is the mother of two children, ages 2 and 3.

Ms. Hinderliter and her husband, Darren, were raised in Mattituck, where they still reside. Being from the community, she knows how charitable local people are and, although she never expected to be on the receiving end, she is grateful and overwhelmed at how they have come together to help her and her family during this difficult time.

“The support our family has received from the entire community has been outstanding,” Ms. Hinderliter said. “You never think you’re going to end up being a recipient of these outpourings of help.”

Ms. Hinderliter has been open about her experience with cancer and uses it to encourage others to keep tabs on their health.

“I’ve been pretty outspoken about what I’ve been going through and shared a lot about what it has entailed,” she said. “I didn’t have any family history or anything that would have made me think twice that cancer would have been a possibility.”

Ms. Hinderliter plans to give back as well. “I plan on getting involved with Kait’s Angels and giving back to the community in that way,” she said. “People making us meals and other little things just to help out have been a big thing for us and I look forward to doing that for other people.”

Kait’s Angels is currently taking donations for next weekend’s yard sale. They will not accept “large furniture, couches and bedroom sets, computers, strollers or car seats (due to recalls), lawn mowers, medical equipment or exercise equipment,” said organization board member Darla Doorhy.

Anyone who would like to contribute items for the sale may drop them off Friday, Sept. 10, between 4 and 6 p.m. at the Doorhy home, 1125 Ole Jule Lane in Mattituck.