The Benvenuto Americans of Italian Heritage Club awarded their annual charitable donation to Combat Veterans to Careers at their May meeting last week at Odell Recreation Center. This is the third year in a row that club membership has selected Combat Veterans to Careers to be the recipient.
This year’s donation of $2,628 was raised through the club’s annual fundraiser a bocce tournament held in March at four recreation centers simultaneously.
“This was our eighth tournament,” said John DiFulgentis, co-chair of the tournament. “We get a lot of return teams participating every year. Some of the teams that have won in the past make up their own champion t-shirts to wear for the next tournament.”
More than 120 people participated in the 2017 tournament. The tournament includes a hot lunch supervised by Dan Triceri.
“One year we tried something new,” said DiFulgentis, “we skipped the lunch to speed up the tournament. Boy did we hear from people. The lunch is back.”
The Benvenuto Club whose motto is ‘Service above Self’ has raised over $20,000 for various charities since their inception in 2010. “We use to give to a different charity every year,” said outgoing club president Sal Torname, “but three years ago we gave to Combat Veterans to Careers and since then that organization has been the choice of the members.” Combat Veterans to Careers provides support and opportunities to enhance the quality of life for combat veterans and their families. They do this by focusing on four main areas: education, employment, housing and wellness.
The Benvenuto Club is a social/charitable organization made up of members with Italian heritage. The club meets the second Tuesday of the month October through May.
