Pasta dinner to benefit Radu family

On April 2, the Leo Bernabi Elementary School in conjunction with the MOMS Club of Spencerport/Churchville will host a dinner to benefit the Radu family. The dinner will consist of spaghetti, bread, salad, dessert and soda or coffee. Everything for the dinner has been donated allowing the entire proceeds from the fund raiser to go directly to the family.

The Radu family, consisting of nine children, lost their mother, Olga, on January 6, in a car accident on Route 31 in Sweden. They currently live with their father in a rental home on Colby Street. Although the community outreach has been great, with nine children there is still a huge financial need. Friends and interpreters for the children, Oksana Basisty and Ludmilla Khomitch, will be bringing the family to the dinner. Seven of the children attend Spencerport Schools.

Linda Van Der Starre of the MOMS Club and Valerie Lupiani of the Bernabi School are orchestrating the dinner and working together to get the word out. Van Der Starre said she was amazed and pleased at the outpouring of support from the community and local businesses willing to donate their time or items to make the dinner a success.

LiDestri Foods donated the spaghetti and the sauce, Wright-Wisner Distributing donated the soda, Gates Big M donated a gift certificate that will be used to purchase the bread, Jim's Restaurant donated all the butter for the dinner, and Whittier Party House donated the coffee. The parents of students in the Taylor School are baking all the desserts that will be part of the meal. Bridge Terminal Transport paid for the printing of 1,000 tickets.

Cooperation is a key word in planning the dinner. The manager of the Spencerport School System Cafeteria will be donating her time and skills in helping with the cooking. The staff, teachers, and administrators, including the school principal from Bernabi, will be serving the meal. The MOMS Club members will be handling all clean-up.

There will also be a raffle with the items on display at the dinner. Raffle tickets will be $1 a piece or 6 for $5. Customers can drop their tickets into bowls in front of the items and drawings will take place after the dinner. Purchasers do not have to be present to win. Prizes will be a mixture of donated items; Van Der Starre mentioned a recent donation of a large piece of exercise equipment. More items are needed for the raffle and can be donated by contacting Linda Van Der Starre at 594-9888, or Valerie Lupiani at the Bernabi School at 349-5409. All proceeds from the raffle will go directly to the family.

Linda Van Der Starre said the main concern now is to get the public aware of the benefit and ask them to purchase tickets in advance. "We have no idea how many to cook for and while we will sell tickets at the door, it would be great if we had an idea of how many people are going to be there," Van Der Starre stated. "People may not buy tickets ahead because they aren't sure if they can attend the dinner or not. But even if they bought the tickets and then couldn't go, the donation is going to a worthy cause."

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Leo Bernabi School office or at Sunsational Tans located in the plaza behind McDonald's Restaurant on Route 31 in Spencerport. They can also be purchased directly from Van Der Starre by calling 594-9888. Tickets can be purchased through the mail by sending a check to Radu Family Fundraiser, 3 Union Pointe Drive, Rochester, NY 14624. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children 6-10. Under 6 are free. A family ticket for four is $20.

A fund has been established at the Spencerport Federal Credit Union for the family and anyone wishing to make a donation in lieu of the dinner can stop by there and do so.