A fund-raising Casino night for The Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund recently raised a record-breaking $41,000 plus.
The Clermont-based charity raises money to fund EMT and paramedic education, tuition, books, and supplies.
More than 65 companies donated over $42,000 in prizes and giveaways at the January 27 event that was held at The Plantation in Leesburg.
Attendees played casino while they sampled entrees, appetizers, desserts and drinks from Clermont and Central Florida area restaurants and caterers, while also participating in raffles for gift certificates, raffle prize baskets, silent auction items and big door prizes.
The Frankie Valente Scholarship founder Anthony Valente said: “We are truly thankful to all of our generous sponsors, donors and supporters who have continued to contribute their valuable time, talents, food, gift baskets and services for our fund.”
The Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund was founded in 2018 after Anthony’s son Frankie passed away while on the job as an EMT.
That same week, a friend gave the family a check for $500 and said that since Frankie loved being an EMT/Paramedic so much, she wanted to start a scholarship in his name.
Anthony and his wife Joyce agreed and with the help of close friend Dave Piraino, who set-up a website for the charity, donations started to come in and they planned a fundraiser.
The first event was a pasta dinner, where Joyce made homemade sauce and meatballs for more than 1000 people. They raised $10,000 that night.
Valente said: “We then started an endowment fund with the Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY to give scholarships there. When we permanently moved from New York to Clermont in 2021, we joined the South Lake Chamber of Commerce, as we started reaching out to find local area colleges to support.
“We found that Lake Tech has a great EMT, Paramedic and Firefighter program, so we decided to partner with them. Since being involve with South Lake Chamber of
Commerce as a Trustee Level sponsor, we have expanded the scholarship fund to reach beyond Clermont, to all of Lake County.”
So far, The Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund has given away several scholarships with 8 new Lake Tech Scholarships this last year. They are now working on a larger Lake Tech endowment program, while growing the primary program with additional funds, so more students can get the scholarship help they need.
The net fund of donations from this newest Casino Night event will soon be awarded to local students. Some people will be awarded partial scholarships, while some will receive more.
Participating businesses in Lake County not only donated their money to support the casino event, they even donated their services. The Planation at Leesburg donated the venue. Anthony and Joyce Valente had over 50 volunteers who helped that night.
Other companies that supported the casino night included: Moss Incentives, Guru Indian Restaurant, Give a Day Foundation, OCR Roofing, Denise Calderon CPA, Root and Branch, Sweet Home Soap, Vacations Designed 4 U, Full House Sound and TV Solutions and Piesano’s among many others.
They even had 2 long-standing supportive businesses from Rochester NY make donations.
Anthony and Joyce have more events planned with Foxtail Coffee and others for 2024 including a golf tournament. They are also actively looking to partner with more local companies and organizations to hold mutually beneficial events.
Plans are also in the works to eventually start a fully funded day care center for first responders students so that they don’t have to worry about childcare.
Anthony Valente said: “My son Frankie loved helping others. After he passed away, his friends and coworkers, told us how he helped them watch their children when they were falling behind in EMT class, how he would bring them food, extra funds and how he just helped them.”
They are always looking for more companies to become a sponsor, donor, or participant in future events. Companies and people can donate through their website. Call: 585-500-9140 or visit: https://www.thefvsfund.com where you can sign up for their newsletter and follow them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/frankievalentescholarshipfund
