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Gallo Gives Foundation awards community donations

CAMP Rehoboth check presentation attendees shown are (l-r) BHHS Gallo Vice President Andrew Ratner and Gallo Gives Committee members Adriane Gallagher, Lana Warfield, Donna DiLuzio, Marie DiSpoto, Chris Beagle and Taylor Wilkinson; and CAMP Rehoboth Co-founder Murray Archibald with board members Mike DeFlavia and Leslie Sinclair. SUBMITTED PHOTOS
November 14, 2018
Frets 4 Vets check presentation attendees shown are (l-r) local chapter founder/president and guitar craftsman Tom Baker; Gallo Gives Committee members Lana Warfield, Marie DiSpoto and Adriane Gallagher; and Frets 4 Vets graduate Vietnam veteran Frank Bolen.
Special Olympics Delaware athlete Reggie Miller is a formidable competitor in his favorite sport of bocce. SODE check presentation attendees shown are (l-r) Gallo Gives Committee members Adriane Gallagher and Lana Warfield; Reggie Miller and his mother and biggest fan Janie Miller; Gallo Gives Committee members Tricia Ratner and Taylor Wilkinson; and Ann Grunert of Special Olympics Delaware.
Frank Bolen, sergeant 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Vietnam War, credits the Frets 4 Vets program with helping him conquer post-traumatic stress disorder. 
What is Your Voice check presentation attendees shown are in back (l-r) Gallo Gives Committee members Chris Beagle and Lana Warfield; What is Your Voice founder Jacqueline Sterbach; Ali Stinson, Delaware Tech intern; Treasurer Steve Folsom; Gallo Gives Committee member Adriane Gallagher; and BHHS Gallo Vice President Andrew Ratner. In front are Gallo Gives Committee member Donna Di Luzio, What is Your Voice's Maria Grace Folsom and Gallo Gives Committee members Marie DiSpoto and Taylor Wilkinson. 
Sussex Strong check presentation attendees shown are (l-r) Anita Broccolino, Sussex County Association of Realtors consultant; board members Audry Serio and Rob Kimbles; President Kristina Lingo; and Gallo Gives Committee members Adriane Gallagher, Taylor Wilkinson and Tricia Ratner.

As part of a continued pledge to support the community in which they live and work, the management, agents and staff of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Gallo Realty have formed the Gallo Gives Foundation. For the third quarter of 2018, earnings of $9,250 were awarded to the CAMPSafe program of CAMP Rehoboth, Sussex Strong of the Sussex County Association of Realtors, What is Your Voice Inc., Special Olympics Delaware and Frets 4 Vets. Details are given below. A $1,250 portion of earnings has been set aside for a college-bound senior scholarship which will be available in spring 2019. 

The Gallo Gives Foundation is funded primarily through the company’s agents, management and staff. Agents are encouraged to donate a percentage of their commissions earned, and the firm matches all agent/staff contributions 100 percent. Public donations will be accepted as well. Each Gallo Realty office in Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach is represented by individuals who serve on the foundation’s giving committee. The committee researches community charities in need and recommends funding. The foundation is managed by the Greater Lewes Foundation.

This year, CAMP Rehoboth received $2,500  donated in memory of its co-founder and Executive Director Steve Elkins, who passed away in March. The mission of CAMP Rehoboth is to Create A More Positive environment in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. It does that by promoting cooperation and understanding among all people, and working to build a safer and more inclusive community with room for all.

The donated funds were earmarked for CAMPsafe, part of CAMP Rehoboth’s Health and Wellness programming. CAMPsafe provides HIV education and outreach, and offers HIV testing and counseling at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and three satellite testing facilities in Sussex County. CAMP Rehoboth also provides STI testing, sexual health counseling, outreach, condom distribution and volunteer activities. To reach CAMP Rehoboth Health and Wellness Director Salvatore Seeley, email Salvatore@camprehoboth.com. For more information about CAMP Rehoboth, go to www.camprehoboth.com.

Gallo Gives Foundation donated $2,500 to sponsor Sussex Strong’s 2018 Gala Auction. Sussex Strong is the community service foundation of the Sussex County Association of Realtors. Each fall, it hosts an auction with total proceeds used for purchasing winter coats, shoes, boots, holiday gifts, necessities and grocery gift cards for approximately 350 children in need all over Sussex County. Social service agencies identify those in need, and local Realtors volunteer their time to purchase and gift wrap the needed items in time for Christmas. For more information, go to www.sussexstrong.org.

What Is Your Voice Inc., domestic violence peer support advocates, received a $1,000 donation. The organization’s mission is to empower women and children to live violence-free lives. Its objective is to reduce the risk of women or children repeating the cycle of violence or fleeing from violent homes, becoming statistics of poverty, homelessness, addiction or human trafficking. It promotes healing through intensive aftercare for the whole person, body, soul and spirit. A recently opened safe house, the Pearl House, offers immediate shelter for domestic abuse victims and their children. For more information, go to www.whatisyourvoice.org.

In year three of a five-year pledge of $5,000, $1,000 was awarded to Special Olympics Delaware, whose mission is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for more than 4,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. For more information, go to www.sode.org.

Lastly, $1,000 was awarded to Frets 4 Vets, an organization that helps veterans defeat PTSD and depression, one chord at a time. The program is designed to create a coping mechanism to help participants focus their mind in a positive direction instead of a self-destructive path. Each student is provided with16 one-on-one guitar lessons, a loaner guitar and an Android tablet with lesson software for practice at home. After their eighth lesson, students will be invited to biweekly jam session/group get-togethers. These nonmandatory sessions will be with a music instructor and possibly other musicians from the area.

At the end of the 16-week course, the students get diploma packages that include a brand-new electric guitar, lap steel or bass, depending on their lesson selection, that is theirs to keep. The guitars are handmade in the USA. The guitars in the Sussex County program are handmade by local Frets 4 Vets chapter founder and artisan Tom Baker. For more information, go to www.fretsforvets.org.

To request assistance for a charity or organization, send information to Andrew Ratner, vice president, BHHS Gallo Realty, 37230 Rehoboth Ave. Ext., Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971.

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