Franklin Square residents feed veteran in need

More than 80 Franklin Square residents have volunteered to help a local World War II veteran who has struggled to keep food on the table for himself and his 65-year-old mentally disabled daughter during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The community really stepped up for this,” said Gina Centauro, who lives in Franklin Square and organized a “food train” for Rosario Trovato on May 4.

The 98-year-old Trovato had reached out to her charity, Rescuing Families Inc., a few weeks ago, Centauro recounted, saying he needed essential items such as masks, gloves, paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning supplies. But after talking to him every other day, and dropping those items off at his Garden City South home twice a week, Centauro found out that Trovato was also having trouble getting food.

He didn’t want his home health care aides going shopping, out of fear that they might contract Covid-19, Centauro said, and when he went shopping himself, “there was nothing left for him.”

“The pandemic has been hard on all of us, but especially the elderly and disabled population,” she posted in a Facebook group she set up on May 4. “We thought what better way to help than to get our community involved in a meal train.”

Residents would cook low-sodium meals for him, Centauro explained in a Facebook Live video on the page, and she could deliver them to his house with notes from the people who made them. Trovato loves Italian food, she wrote, but doesn’t enjoy Mexican or Latino food, and is “not overly particular about breakfast.”

Initially, Centauro said, fewer than two dozen people volunteered, but within a day, the group grew to more than 80, including Gabrielle Brino, who decided to join after she saw the post on Facebook. “They live locally, and I wanted to help feed them,” Brino said. “That’s the least I could do during this horrendous time.”

Elmont resident Anemone Mahadeo agreed, and said she got involved because she has been feeding those in need since her fifth birthday party in Guyana, when her grandmother suggested she hand out food rather than have a birthday party. “It’s something that was instilled in me,” Mahadeo said, noting that she also gives out food one a month at the Bethany House in Roosevelt. She planned to make a chicken and pasta dish for Trovato.

Even the Boy Scouts decided to help out. Venturing Crew 2718, sponsored by Franklin Square VFW Post 2718, volunteers with the local veterans, and created an initiative called Operation Thank a Veteran in March, raising money to buy food for local vets.

“My youth members and adult leaders have a deep connection with our veterans,” Crew Leader Charlie Grippaldi said, “and feel it’s important to help the men and women who fought for the freedoms we enjoy in this country.”

So, he said, when the VFW contacted him about Centauro’s efforts, the scouts “were more than willing to help,” Grippaldi said, and committed to bringing Trovato three days’ worth of meals — three lunches and three dinners — every Tuesday. They get the food from local restaurants — like Antonio’s Italian-American Deli in Malverne, DaVinci Gourmet Market in Franklin Square, Tulip Caterers in Franklin Square and Patsy’s Pizzeria in Queens — all of which have donated to scouting events in the past.

“It’s our way of giving back,” Grippaldi said, noting that the Venturing Crew now feeds six veterans a week.

Anyone who would like to help Centauro’s cause — which doesn’t have to include cooking a meal, Grippaldi added — can donate to the Venturing Crew’s efforts at www.crew2718.com.