Andrew Grimaldi
Donation protected
Dear Friends:
We need your help for our friend and Wesleyan classmate Andrew “Vito” Grimaldi ’87 who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Andy was diagnosed with ALS in January 2017 and had to leave his job soon thereafter. As you probably know, there is no cure for ALS. Vito’s spirits and attitude remain positive but his mobility has become severely diminished and his speech has been impaired.
Andy is a remarkable person. He and his wife, Lynne, have been married for over 26 years since meeting at the State House in Boston. They have two sons, John (23) and Nick (21). After living in the Boston area for several years, his family moved to his hometown of Northampton, MA in 2000. Lynne continues to work as the executive assistant to the Chief of the UMass-Amherst Police Department, but has cut back her hours to care for Andy. John recently graduated from Springfield College and Nick has been helping Andy at home.
Andy’s story could be any of our stories. He came to Wesleyan in the fall of 1983 from Northampton High School and lived in Clark on the first floor. Andy was an offensive lineman, aka “The Roman Plow”, on the football team in his freshman year. He graduated in 1987 with a degree in Government. He worked in Iowa and Minnesota during the primary campaign in 1988. Beginning in 1989, he worked as an aide to the state representative from Northampton for eleven years. Following his diagnosis, he retired from the state lottery commission in early 2018. State retirement benefits and Medicare help to cover Andy’s medical and living expenses but they are not enough. As a longtime state employee, he is not eligible for Social Security benefits.
Vito knows what his future will be. His family and friends have raised money for ALS research and services for the past few years. Now, he needs some help to maintain, as best as possible, a good quality of life and to know his family will be okay after he is gone. We have committed $40,000; most of which was already used to purchase a wheelchair accessible mini-van. We are trying to raise an additional $210,000 to pay-off the remaining mortgage on his home, outstanding credit card and student debt, and start a continuing education fund for the boys.
Below are pictures of Andy and his family and friends and above is a video clip of Andy from a local Northampton, MA fundraiser in April 2017. Some of the money raised at that event has been used to modify the Grimaldi house to make accommodations for Andy’s debilities.
We thank you for reading about Andy’s story and hope you can help. Please click on the “Donate Now” button as we try to reach our goal. The best way to communicate with Andy is through e-mail at [email redacted].
Fondly,
John Fitzpatrick ‘87
Jeffrey McCarthy ‘89
Chris Olinger ‘87
Michael Pruzan ‘87
We need your help for our friend and Wesleyan classmate Andrew “Vito” Grimaldi ’87 who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Andy was diagnosed with ALS in January 2017 and had to leave his job soon thereafter. As you probably know, there is no cure for ALS. Vito’s spirits and attitude remain positive but his mobility has become severely diminished and his speech has been impaired.
Andy is a remarkable person. He and his wife, Lynne, have been married for over 26 years since meeting at the State House in Boston. They have two sons, John (23) and Nick (21). After living in the Boston area for several years, his family moved to his hometown of Northampton, MA in 2000. Lynne continues to work as the executive assistant to the Chief of the UMass-Amherst Police Department, but has cut back her hours to care for Andy. John recently graduated from Springfield College and Nick has been helping Andy at home.
Andy’s story could be any of our stories. He came to Wesleyan in the fall of 1983 from Northampton High School and lived in Clark on the first floor. Andy was an offensive lineman, aka “The Roman Plow”, on the football team in his freshman year. He graduated in 1987 with a degree in Government. He worked in Iowa and Minnesota during the primary campaign in 1988. Beginning in 1989, he worked as an aide to the state representative from Northampton for eleven years. Following his diagnosis, he retired from the state lottery commission in early 2018. State retirement benefits and Medicare help to cover Andy’s medical and living expenses but they are not enough. As a longtime state employee, he is not eligible for Social Security benefits.
Vito knows what his future will be. His family and friends have raised money for ALS research and services for the past few years. Now, he needs some help to maintain, as best as possible, a good quality of life and to know his family will be okay after he is gone. We have committed $40,000; most of which was already used to purchase a wheelchair accessible mini-van. We are trying to raise an additional $210,000 to pay-off the remaining mortgage on his home, outstanding credit card and student debt, and start a continuing education fund for the boys.
Below are pictures of Andy and his family and friends and above is a video clip of Andy from a local Northampton, MA fundraiser in April 2017. Some of the money raised at that event has been used to modify the Grimaldi house to make accommodations for Andy’s debilities.
We thank you for reading about Andy’s story and hope you can help. Please click on the “Donate Now” button as we try to reach our goal. The best way to communicate with Andy is through e-mail at [email redacted].
Fondly,
John Fitzpatrick ‘87
Jeffrey McCarthy ‘89
Chris Olinger ‘87
Michael Pruzan ‘87
Fundraising team: Team Vito (4)
Team Vito
Organizer
New York, NY
Andrew Grimaldi
Beneficiary
Jeff Findlay
Team member
Linda Glowacki Findlay
Team member
