Saint Joseph’s Medical Center President and CEO Michael Spicer joined with Saint Pio Foundation Founder and CEO Luciano Lamonarca and Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano on May 25 to announce an exciting and unique community initiative called A Margherita for a Smile. Hollywood actor Joe Mantegna (“The Godfather: Part III,” “Criminal Minds”) attended the ceremony via video.
The A Margherita for a Smile initiative aims to provide a minimum of 1,000 authentic Margherita pizzas each year to community residents and patients in South West Yonkers. To celebrate the announcement, two pizza trucks were stationed behind Saint Joseph’s Medical Center’s Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation Family Health Center to serve Margherita pizzas to patients of the center. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held with a red ribbon attached between the two pizza trucks.
The initiative is available on the following two websites:
https://pizzaforasmile.org/
https://www.saintpiofoundation.org/smile
Michael Spicer, President and CEO of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center stated: “We are delighted to partner with Saint Pio Foundation on this initiative. In addition to our on-site patient food pantry at our Family Health Center and our monthly mobile food distributions with Feeding Westchester, it is unique to be able to offer our patients and members of the community a hot meal and an authentic Margherita pizza experience. Saint Pio’s Foundation and Saint Joseph’s Medical Center share the same mission, to help those in need. So, it is only fitting that we have partnered with them on this initiative to benefit our patients and the community we serve.”
“By launching this initiative, the Saint Pio Foundation intends to change the way we bring nourishment to those in need. We strive to feed not only the body but also the soul of those who are hungry. A Margherita Pizza delivers both experiences perfectly, and we could not be prouder to borrow from our Italian culture and cuisine to help Saint Joseph’s Medical Center’s patients that face significant health challenges,” said Saint Pio Foundation Founder and CEO Luciano Lamonarca.
“During his lifetime, Saint Pio set up a medical clinic for the poor that eventually became a large hospital called the Home for the Relief of Suffering, much like the Sisters of Charity did with Saint Joseph’s. We appreciate the Saint Pio Foundation’s collaboration with Saint Joseph’s to bring smiles and nourishment to people in need. This effort truly embraces the spirit of Saint Pio’s ministry and his life’s work,” said Mayor Mike Spano.
About the Saint Pio Foundation
Based in Tuckahoe, the Saint Pio Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization that promotes the legacy of Saint Pio, the popular modern Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, by supporting healthcare, educational, social, religious, and cultural initiatives that influence and advance the public’s knowledge of the teachings, legacy, and importance of Saint Pio.
About Saint Joseph’s Medical Center
Since 1888, Saint Joseph’s Medical Center has served Yonkers and the surrounding communities of Westchester and New York City with patient-centered, quality-focused inpatient and outpatient care, including specialized programs such as orthopedics, cardiology, family medicine, geriatrics; and wound care; advanced emergency treatment; state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging and ambulatory surgery; inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services; and a network of primary care services serving Westchester, the Bronx and Manhattan. Its Saint Vincent’s Hospital Westchester division in Harrison offers a comprehensive range of mental health, addiction and residential programs serving Westchester and The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Please visit us on the web at saintjosephs.org and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
News courtesy of the Saint Po Foundation and Saint Joseph’s Medical Center
