Tony Lubrano said he thought he’d spend his whole life trying to raise $1 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
When he made the pledge in the summer of 2010, four years after his father died of leukemia, people from the society “looked at me like I was crazy,” he said.
But six years later, with Mineola’s sixth annual Night on the Town bringing in a record $136,700 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Lubrano said he’s gotten more than $600,000 toward that goal.
“I really thought this would be something I’d be talking about 20 years from now,” said Lubrano, who owns Piccola Bussola and is president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce. “So I’m humbled.”
About 500 people came to Jericho Terrace on Thursday to support the cause, Lubrano said.
The event featured a raffle, silent auction, live music and a large spread of food. Twenty-four restaurants from Manhattan to Montauk brought samplings of their menus, Lubrano said.
As one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Long Island chapter, Night on the Town’s proceeds support research for blood cancer cures, patient services and advocacy, society Executive Director Sarah Lipsky said.
About 40 volunteers helped staff the event, Lipsky said, and the $165 ticket goes straight to those initiatives because everything is donated, Lubrano said. Several corporate sponsors also gave money, he said, including New York Community Bank and Lalezarian Properties.
“This event is put together because of many people who volunteer their time and effort to put on an event and raise important funds,” Lipsky said.
Lubrano said he, his friend Harry Zapiti and a few others started Night on the Town in 2011 as a way to raise money for blood cancer research following the death of his father, Pasquale, from leukemia in 2006.
Lubrano started fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society because drug trials and research helped his father live with the disease for 15 years despite being told he would only live a year and a half past his diagnosis in 1996.
“It was only possible because somebody came long before us and raised a whole lot of money for that research that paid for those 15 years,” he said.
That research has driven the childhood leukemia survival rate up from 3 percent 50 years ago to 92 percent today, Lipsky said. But someone is still diagnosed with a blood cancer every three minutes and dies from one every 10 minutes, she said.
The Night on the Town was fairly successful at first, Lubrano said — they raised $40,000 and split the proceeds between the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
But he, Zapiti and the others could only do so much on their own, so they partnered with the society’s Long Island chapter two years ago to leverage their staff and fundraising experience, Lubrano said.
With additional help from the philanthropy coalition Warriors for a Cause, Night on the Town’s proceeds have nearly doubled from $72,000 in 2014, he said.
“We were thrilled to see something we started over a glass of wine has grown into something that now has a life of its own,” Lubrano said.
Night on the Town attracts attendees and businesses from all over Long Island, but a large contingent still come from Mineola, Lubrano said.
“People are charitable in Mineola,” Village of Mineola Trustee Dennis Walsh said. “I go to so many functions, and there’s never an end to what people give.”
The event introduced the Pasquale Lubrano Community Service Award, an honor named for Lubrano’s father that his mother presents to an outstanding community volunteer.
This year’s winner was Long Island Tri Coach head Jose Lopez, whose organization trains people for charity runs, swims and bike rides, Lubrano said.
Walsh said he has attended the event for at least five years, but this was the first for Sheila Diamond of Bayside, Queens.
“The bands are great, and the food is delicious, and the people are friendly,” she said. “What else can you want?”
