Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, May 2, 2018
people and their struggle with taxes...All
the events are great and I try to work at
all of them and not miss any.”
Locally, UNICO hosts a tomato contest
and a Clambake.
Molinelli said UNICO contributes not
only to people who need of help in the
community but also to the Ulster County
Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation.
Richard Gerentine was another
founding member of Marlboro UNICO.
“This (dinner) says it all. People
come here and are very generous and
we are generous back to the community.
We give a tremendous amount of money
throughout the year in many different
ways to the community and are very low-
key. We make no money whatsoever and
we give it back to the community.”
Russell Parks, who grew up in
Marlborough, made the journey up from
Texas where he presently resides.
“I am now retired and there was a
little lull in Houston so I decided to come
up for this and to see some people,” he
said.
Parks described the intent of the
dinner.
“When this event started years ago
the focus of it was to put a meal out
for the community and to give back to
the community. Now we not only do the
meal but we make money to give back at
Christmas time and for food gift cards,”
he said.
UNICO invited two special guests
from New Jersey, Joseph Agresti, a past
National President of UNICO (2007)
and Steve Pelonero, who will become
President in 2020.
Pelonero said the President’s job
is to, “keep order in the organization
and to make sure the committees are
The Libations Crew for the dinner consisted of [L-R] Jeff McKeel, Dave Zambito, Lenny
Scaturro and Joe “Fuzz” Ferrara.
all shared.” He noted that the national
UNICO organization donates $50,000
every year for cancer research and an
additional $80,000 for scholarships.
Pelonero said they also donate to St.
Jude’s Hospital and help fund research
on Cooley’s Anemia, an inherited blood
disorder that mainly affects people from
Asian and Mediterranean countries.
Agresti said he joined UNICO because
it provided a way to help others, “whether
it be a food pantry or sick people or
whatever, it’s part of our motto, ‘Service
Above Self,’ that’s what drew me into
it.” Pelonero said he joined, “because
my heart is in fundraising for cancer
research. My mom is a four-time cancer
survivor and my younger brother was
Joe Noto [center] was the heart of the kitchen crew.
just diagnosed with lung cancer and is
fighting it. If you do a fundraiser for
cancer, research, I’ll be there.”
The UNICO national website states that
the organization was “founded on October
10, 1922 in Waterbury, Connecticut. A
group of 15 men, led by Dr. Anthony P.
Vastola, came together to create what has
become a very special and very proud
3
organization. It was Dr. Vastola’s dream
to create an Italian American service
organization to engage in charitable
works, support higher education, and
perform patriotic deeds.” UNICO now
has a presence in 13 states, with the
newest chapter in Tampa, Florida, and
has become the largest Italian-American
service organization in the U.S.
UNICO in Italian means ‘unique’
and today the acronym stands for Unity,
Neighborliness, Integrity, Charity and
Opportunity, values the members try to
bring to their respective communities.
Pelonero said UNICO also has an
anti-bias committee that works to dispel
negative stereotypes about Italians.
Pat Pelonero, who runs the national
office in Fairfield, NJ, said Dr. Vastola
and his friends began contributing to
education, “because they wanted to show
that Italians could be educated, that they
could be professionals like he was and
were not just mobsters, but they did a
lot of good things and could be doctors,
lawyers and dentists.” Today, UNICO also
honors the achievements of scientists,
such as Louis Agassiz Shaw a professor
of Hygiene at Harvard, who along with
fellow professor Philip Drinker, invented
the modern iron lung.
More information about UNICO can
be found at unico.org or by calling 973-808-
0035.