Kathleen and Mariano Adamo Community Service Fund

What makes a volunteer so special? Is it the countless gifts of time and self? Or perhaps it is the dedication, commitment, and consistency to go above and beyond without being asked? Kathleen and Mariano ("Molly" or "Sonny" as he was known to family and friends) Adamo embodied these qualities throughout their lives. Now their children, Lynn Adamo Giordano and Christopher Adamo have created the Kathleen and Mariano Adamo Community Service Fund at VCF to honor the community spirit of the Valley that their parents cared so deeply about.

"Our parents were born and raised here," said Lynn. "They never left Benz Street. That's the thing about the Valley: everyone knows everyone here. Even if you weren't related, you were family." Mariano owned Adamo's Package Store on Beaver Street, and served for 20 years as a mailman in Ansonia until his retirement in 1996. Kathleen was a veteran registered nurse who initially worked for Yale-New Haven Hospital and then later at Griffin, retiring in 2002 as the Hospital's director of quality management.

"Helping others was always important to our parents. It's also become important to us, and this Fund gives us the ability to remember them by honoring volunteerism in the Valley."

Mariano was a member of the Webster Hose Volunteer Firefighters, as well as the St. Michael's Men's Society in Ansonia. Kathleen was an active PTA member, a volunteer with the annual Relay for Life, and served as the volunteer Parish Nurse at Holy Rosary Church. It was this combined commitment to giving back and helping others that led Lynn and Chris to VCF.

"We wanted to do something that would have more impact, and be more meaningful," said Lynn. "Our mom passed in 2005, and then dad in 2007. They were well-known, loved, and respected throughout the Valley. Even now, people still come up to us and say how wonderful they were. Having this Fund at VCF, with its strong reputation within the community, helps us to make sure that their legacy won't ever be forgotten."

The Adamo Community Service Fund will honor those in the Community that are doing something to help others.

"It really is about those throughout the Valley who are doing good work," said Lynn. "We have the flexibility to choose any Valley nonprofit and provide them with an award from this Fund. It will specifically recognize a volunteer who is providing outstanding service to a nonprofit organization in the Valley. Helping others was always important to our parents. It's also become important to us, and this Fund gives us the ability to remember them by honoring volunteerism in the Valley."

To make a tax-deductible contribution to this fund, please use the secure, online credit card processing form below: