Businesses aid parish with upcoming Bingo Blast
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Business throughout the Mon Valley have found a way to help a local parish.
St. Andrew the Apostle Parish will host an outdoor Bingo Blast June 6 to help the church continue its outreach efforts, and thanks to the support of dozens of area businesses, all profits from the fundraiser will go to a good cause.
Parish Business Manager Joe Caruso said the church has not hosted a bingo in recent memory, even before the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to plan fundraisers and events.
As restrictions are lifted, the church is trying to come up with fun, creative ways to support its programs.
“People think bingo, they think church, and that is pretty typical,” Caruso said. “But we have not had a bingo for a while, even before COVID, so we thought it might be a fun way to bring people together and to help our parishes.”
The Bingo Blast is set for 1 p.m. and will take place in the pavilion behind the church in Donora, where there are 12 acres of space for people to gather.
“We have so much space and I thought an outdoor bingo might be a unique way to do something fun, and to help us raise money,” he said.
Two parishioners who own Ripepi Winery and Peroney Bros. Wood-Fired Pizza Wagon offered to sell their goods during the bingo with some proceeds benefiting the church. Regular concession items will also be available.
With help from Sponsor Coordinator Vera Cline, more than 40 other business got on board to sponsor games. Melissa Kendall attended area bingos and helped to organize the schedule of the day’s event to ensure it runs smoothly.
“When we started to plan this, I thought the church would have to put so much money aside to be able to pay out games,” Caruso said. “Then Vera went around and started knocking on doors and next thing we know, the entire thing was sponsored by more than 40 businesses, and 20 of those businesses alone were from Donora. We were totally shocked. Flabbergasted.”
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