Piermont woman wins Optimum’s Derek Jeter Community GOAT Contest

When Piermont resident and freelance TV/film makeup artist Joanne Ottaviano applied to Optimum’s Derek Jeter Community GOAT (Greatest of All Time) Contest in late 2023, she never dreamed she would be selected as one of its winners. Fortunately for her. Ottaviano’s work to improve the village of Piermont was exactly the sort of effort that the contest was seeking to honor .

For the contest, Optimum Complete Internet + Mobile invited customers and small business owners to share how they are making a difference in their community. Winners of the contest would be offered a trip to Miami, Florida for a lunch with Baseball Hall of Fame legend Derek Jeter, as well as $1,000 to give to their favorite charity.

Knowing how involved she was in her community as president of the Piermont Civic Association—expanding a small, summer concert in Flywheel Park to five concerts with 250 audience members, and spearheading several  other events— Ottaviano decided she would give it a try after seeing the contest advertised on social media.

“I did so much for my community, I figured I might as well try it,” Ottaviano explained. “So I told them what I do, (along with) certain things that have influenced me—that make the sense  of community feel very important to me from incidents that have happened in my own life.”

Sadly, the main incident that Ottaviano referred to in her application to the contest was a great personal tragedy. On March 29, 2021, Ottaviano’s 31-year-old nephew Gabriel was killed in his Los Angeles home after being stabbed by an intruder 31 times.

After the murder, Ottaviano was touched with how Gabriel’s community came together to remember her nephew, paying tribute with flowers and candles outside his home.

“It showed me how community can really care for one another if they feel a connection, and Gabe had a connection with so many people,” said Ottaviano. “So that influenced me to keep pushing with (community work), because it has taken up a lot of my time. I have my own ‘to do’ list…I’m going to continue the appreciation I received through Optimum. It gave me that little push I needed, because I’m pretty worn out. It’s been a rough two years. But it inspired me to keep on going.”

Ottaviano attended the luncheon with Derek Jeter on February 9, 2024, where she was presented with a giant check to SNARR (Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation) Northeast—the charity of her choice.

When asked how her nephew would feel about her winning this community-based contest with proceeds to charity, Ottaviano’s voice became warm.

“I know he would love it because he was already donating his own money (to charity),” Ottaviano said. “He was a very talented musician and he was teaching violin to children that didn’t have any money. He was donating to the homeless and to the environment. So I think he would be grateful no matter what charity I gave (the money) to. Just the fact that I was able to do it would make him feel grateful.”