Montreal Sicilian organization celebrates $1M fundraising milestone

A Sicilian organization that’s been around for more than 40 years in Montreal is celebrating a major fundraising milestone.

The Associazione Messinese di Montreal has raised more than $1 million since it was created in 1981.

The group celebrated with yet another fundraising event — this time to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“A million dollars in donations to the LaSalle Hospital Foundation, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, the Telethon Stars, and most importantly the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation,” said Antonino Mendolia, the association’s secretary. “There’s events that we hold dear to our heart and many people are no longer with us that are part of this committee that contributed to this milestone.

“It’s an honour and a pleasure for me to be part of this association, to give some time and devotion back to the people before us that did so much to reach this goal today.”

Mendolia says he’s thankful for the hundreds of people who made the milestone a possibility, such as Salvatore Alibrandi, on of the founding members of the association; president Franco Mendolia; or Nunziata Mendolia Lipari, who spent countless hours in the kitchen making a staple of Sicilian cuisine: arancini.

“300,000, for sure, for sure we made it, yeah,” estimated Mendolia Lipari. “Absolutely. Very happy. I’m very proud. We still work, even if we can’t, but we still work to support who needs it.”

Mendolia Lipari says everybody lends a hand in making the famous Sicilian rice balls. Well, almost everybody.

“I ask my grandkids, ‘can you come and help me?’ ‘Yeah, no. When you do, call us, we’re going to come.’ When I call? ‘Oh, I’m busy.’ But it’s OK. I make it for them,” she said.

Maria Luisa Donato, the group’s vice-president, says the association has been very active, not only in giving back to the community, but also in building bridges between Sicily and Quebec.

“Place Santa Lucia del Mela,” near the Ouellette park in LaSalle, is one example.

“It’s nice to keep up with the traditions that we’ve been taught because it’s sad that it’s slowly dying, and we’re all proud to be Italians, but if we do not continue doing these things then these traditions will die. And it’s sad,” Donato said.

The association hopes to continue to bring a piece of Italy to Montreal.

“Yes, we’re proud to be Messinesi, but most importantly, we’re proud to be Italian,” said Mendolia. “We hope that the members and community always continue to participate in these events. You know, we try our best to do these concerts free for the community and when we take these initiatives to do something for the foundations like the Montreal Children’s, we hope we can reach maybe another nice milestone in the future.”