28 JANUARY 16, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Queensboro UNICO gives back while
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Queensboro UNICO, the Queens
chapter of the largest Italian-
American service organization
in the United States, had a banner year
and a holiday season to remember.
Gaspare J. Mistretta was elected
president of Queensboro UNICO
in August 2019, aft er being a member
for 17 years and holding “basically every
position” at the private nonprofi t
organization.
“From secretary to sergeant of arms,
I worked my way up,” Mistretta said.
In the previous months, Mistretta
and members of the Queensboro
UNICO raised funds for St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital, Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation,
Sacred Heart in Glendale, veterans,
fi rst responders, food pantries, scholarships,
several educational program
as well as community service eff orts
in Glendale, Ridgewood and Middle
Village.
For the organization’s annual Cigar
Night in September, the perfect
weather allowed Mistretta and his fellow
UNICO members to come together
at an outdoor venue to enjoy great
company, great food and cigars — all
for a great cause. Proceed of the event
were donated to the Gary Sinise Foundation’s
veterans assistance eff orts.
The organization donated $1,000 to
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
in support of the October 2019
walk-a-thon and also showed support
for Glendale’s Kiwanis Italian Heritage
Night Fundraiser on Oct. 11 with
a $300 donation.
That same month, in the spirit of
celebrating all the great things Italian
Americans have done and continue
to do for the U.S., Queensboro
UNICO members and friends proudly
marched down Fift h Avenue during
the annual Columbus Day Parade.
On Nov. 12, the organization
celebrated its fourth annual Rolex
Raffl e at Bridie’s in Rego Park, where
Jennifer Rizzo was the lucky winner
of the Rolex.
They also donated clothing to
Ridgewood’s St. Matthias Church
pantry.
At UNICO’s Dec. 7 Christmas fundraiser,
held at Leonard’s, the group
not only had an enjoyable time with
Santa Claus, who gave toys to the children
in attendance, but also collected
unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine
Corp’s Toys for Tots campaign. They
assigned locations throughout the
community to add to the toys they
donated, with some of those sponsored
locations being Ford Lincoln
of Queens, Retro Fitness Forest Hills,
Partanna Club of Ridgewood, Vigorous
Fitness Middle Village and City
View Construction Services.
The Christmas party committee
included Minstretta, Sal Mendolia,
Mike Mucaria, Phil Joseph, Frank
Palmeri.
Queensboro UNICO (which stands
for “unique” or “one of a kind” in Italian,
according to their website) also
partnered with Hofstra University
to create a Professorship in Italian
American studies.
Now, Mistretta is looking forward
to announcing the dates for their
staple events, which includes the
Christmas fundraiser, Rolex Raffl e,
their annual picnic and Cigar Night,
as well as serving the community
with more charitable work.
He encourages those who are interested
in joining Queensboro UNICO
in their eff orts to positively impact
the community with charitable work
to call him at 917-880-6532 or visit
their website at www.queensborounico.
org.
Photos courtesy of Queensboro UNICO
/www.queensborou-nico.org
/www.queensborou-nico.org
/www.queensborou-nico.org
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