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By Michelle Visco, Contributing Writer
SHREWSBURY – Ed Pescaro, a Notre Dame alumnus and Shrewsbury resident, recently received a major award for his efforts helping less fortunate families around the holidays.
Pescaro annually participates in a program called “Adopt a Family.”
He, along with 350 members of the Notre Dame Alumni Club, work to make a selected family’s holiday season memorable by helping them find jobs if they need them, as well as providing several other services.
Those services include sending the family various gift cards, whether it be to Wal-Mart, local grocery stores, or gas cards.
Pescaro commented in a recent interview that program participants do whatever they can to get their assigned family what they need.
Saint Anne’s Church in Shrewsbury, which helps organize the initiative, sends Pescaro an email of the chosen family in November, which he forwards to 350 members of the Notre Dame club.
Then, the funds come in.
For all this work, Pescaro was recently recognized by his alma mater as a recipient of its “Force for Good” alumni award.
As soon as he found out that he was receiving this award, he said he was thrilled and told members of the Alumni Club.
He added that his Alumni Club was the only group to see its collective work receive this award out of 150 eligible clubs.
Pescaro started his personal involvement with the “Adopt a Family” program with Saint Anne’s Church in 2012.
The first family that he helped had been living in a one-room motel for nine years. The husband was not working and did not own a car.
Pescaro himself helped the man find a job at a local grocery store. He knew the manager.
He stated that he never cried as much as he did when helping that family. Within a year, the family was living in a five-room apartment which was much better suited for their needs. Shortly after that, the husband got his license and a car.
The husband now works for the Town of Shrewsbury.
Pescaro, being a veteran himself, also helps veterans that are not living at home by providing them with coats, boots, and whatever they may need for the winter.
Pescaro continues to take part in the “Adopt a Family” program, which he looks forward to each year.
