Paradise Companies gives back
According to Paradise Companies founder Al Tortella, Long Neck made him.
Starting with Paradise Grill nearly a decade ago, Paradise Companies has grown to include five restaurants and a marina. Paradise has always made efforts to give back to the community - flagship events like the Flounder Pounder fishing tournament raise money for Beebe’s Tunnell Cancer Center - but coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tortella and Paradise Companies are ready to take another step up in their efforts to give back.
Paradise Companies will be holding events throughout the season benefitting different nonprofits including Delaware Autism Foundation, Home of the Brave, Weekend Warriors, Frets for Vets, Boys & Girls Club of Oak Orchard, The Shepherd’s Office and Brandywine Valley SPCA, among others. Events include things like soup contests, chili contests, brunches and wing contests. This in addition to existing events like the Paradise Bay Tournament, a 5K race and the Flounder Pounder Open.
“We’re creating the event, but it's the people that actually are raising the donations. We want to recognize them for that and thank them,” Tortella said.
Paradise Companies Events Coordinator Barbara Ann Racine-Kerezsi said the fundraisers have generally been one to two per month at Paradise Pub on Long Neck Road, but events will grow to include Paradise Grill, Paradise Landing, and Seaside Bar and Grill in Millsboro once those ventures open up in May. .
Racine-Kerezsi said Paradise Companies wants to include other Long Neck businesses in its fundraising events.
“We try to keep it internal because this is our Long Neck community, this is our Long Neck family, let’s promote some of our Long Neck businesses,” she said.
Tortella said as Paradise Companies has expanded, he believes the company’s effort to give back to the community should expand with it.
“As the company grows, so does our heart and so does our giving,” Racine-Kerezsi said. “Why don’t we continue this path with bigger and better things at all our locations and let Long Neck explore every location you have?”
But the company’s biggest event hasn’t quite been planned yet; June 15 will be Paradise Grill’s 10-year anniversary.
“We haven’t put anything on the calendar yet. We’re playing that by ear to see what kind of staffing we have. But I’m sure we’ll do something,” Tortella said.
When reflecting on the most rewarding part of giving back to their community, Tortella and Racine-Kerezsi said it was the love from Long Neck.
“This community has supported us for 10 years,” Tortella said. “We’ve got their backs.”
For more information on Paradise Companies and upcoming events, visit facebook.com/paradisegrillde.
Ryan Mavity covers Milton and the court system. He is married to Rachel Swick Mavity and has two kids, Alex and Jane. Ryan started with the Cape Gazette all the way back in February 2007, previously covering the City of Rehoboth Beach. A native of Easton, Md. and graduate of Towson University, Ryan enjoys watching the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Capitals and Baltimore Orioles in his spare time.
