The Greater Milford Chamber of Commerce recently gave its 2020 Professional Citizens of the Year award to the two brothers who own Mama Maria Restaurant & Pizzeria.
Salvatore and Franco Laragione, both native Neapolitans, were commended for their efforts to provide quality food free of charge to those in need at the beginning of the pandemic.
“We certainly didn’t do what we did to receive an award, but we are very appreciative that we did,” Franco said.
“Back in March, when COVID started, we decided to try to keep busy since business declined over 75 percent,” he said.
The brothers, who wanted to keep their employees working, began donating meals to those in need.
“We decided to start with 300 meal kits to give away to people,” Franco said.
Those included a jar of pasta sauce made at the restaurant, six fresh homemade rolls and a pound of pasta from Naples.
“I wanted to make sure Italy was involved somehow because they were hit pretty hard, as well,” Franco said of the early months of the pandemic.
“I knew that I needed to call someone to somehow help me distribute these kits. So I decided to call the Milford School District to see if they would do a robocall for me so people could somehow get the word out,” he said.
They ended up putting a call out every Monday and Wednesday.
On those days, Franco said, “People would call in at 10 a.m. Then, we would take their name. We would give them a number, and a couple of hours later, they’d come by the restaurant to pick up a kit.”
He said locals quickly got word of what the brothers were doing.
“Before you know it, people started knowing about it, and everybody in the city of Milford, and I mean everyone – all our customers and everyone – started handing us money basically just to pay it forward,” Franco said.
“We didn’t want to make the money and keep the money. So in turn, we just started making more jars and more kits,” he said. “By the end of June, we had distributed over 4,900 meal kits.”
This is what humanity is all about, but no, most of you moronic slaves rather demonize people, bring people down, and be narcs and try to get people arrested over a mask mandate that is A)Not a law, and B)Not anyone’s responsibility but your own when it comes to your health, security and anything else! Why don’t you clowns trying doing actual good for once? Try to help instead of be the problem? Or better yet, just STFU and stay out of others business when it doe snot involve you?
This is the kind of stuff we need to see and hear more about! Everyone helping others! If we all did this, just imagine!!! But no most of you are self-centered pricks! Hell bent on having our rights taken at all cost to the point you slaves beg for more tyranny!
I will be sure to support this local business!