A COVID-19 Update from Michael Magro Foundation
Dear Friends,
We hope this letter finds you and your families safe and healthy during this very unprecedented time. At Michael Magro Foundation (MMF), our thoughts are with all those feeling the impact of this crisis all around the world, and particularly our MMF families, neighbors, and communities. We wanted to take this moment to update you on the steps we have taken to secure our organization, support our MMF families, and be of service to those in crisis.
Over the past several weeks, we have been working tirelessly and in close partnership with our partner hospitals to provide added assistance wherever needed. An example is our work with NYC Winthrop Cancer Center for Kids, where we have been purchasing meals for families made by Piccola Bussola Ristorante, a longtime staple in the community. Having a child very sick in the hospital is difficult under the best of circumstances. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, families in the hospital are living with extraordinary stress. Ensuring they have a healthy, delicious meal – together – eases their burden each evening while helping support a local restaurant. And, with the support of Investors Bank, a good friend to MMF, the staff at the hospital will also be receiving these delicious dinners.
At MMF, we understand the extreme stress families with a sick child are experiencing due to the added complications of COVID-19. We are responding to each call, email, and text asking for help. We are finding new and creative ways to be present and supportive of families seeking our help. While our circumstances may have changed and the outside world is in great flux, their children are still gravely ill and they still need our help. We have assured them that they are not alone. And we have provided – and will continue to provide – financial assistance to families in crisis.
We are extremely grateful to you, our friends and supporters in the community. Without your assistance, we would be unable to offer this support to our families in crisis. Please know we are thinking of you and your loved ones during this challenging time. We are anxiously awaiting the ‘all-clear’ – the signal that we can return to our lives as we knew them.
As you may know, our Evening of Tasting and Giving Event, held at the beginning of October, is the single largest fundraising event for MMF each year. This event provides much of the funds we need to provide our vital services. It is, for this reason, we are saddened to announce that for 2020, we will be cancelling our event. Our event is a success, in part, because of the generosity of the chefs and restaurants who treat our guests to some of the finest foods on Long Island. Because of the current climate, in which the restaurant industry is so badly impacted, we simply cannot ask them to give even more when many face such an uncertain future. We plan to resume this event in 2021, when, hopefully, our lives and the economy will have returned to what we once knew.
Many of our springtime and early summer events for 2020 are being rescheduled for autumn. We are delighted to have secured September 30, 2020 for our Golf Outing and Spa Day at Cold Spring Country Club. We hope to welcome many of our Tasting event guests to our September 30th. event. Join us for the entire day or if possible, plan to attend the cocktail reception and dinner. Stay tuned for more information and details regarding September 30, 2020.
During this chaotic time, if you know of a family in crisis with a sick child, please feel free to have them contact us at tmagro@magrofoundation.com or (516) 935-4510.
Stay safe and be well.
With our warmest thoughts,
Paul Magro, President & Co-Founder
Terrie Magro, Vice President & Co-Founder