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Supporters line up for spaghetti, chance to help Greenford family
Driscoll Family Benefit
Video
Friends and family come together at St. Charles Church in Boardman for the Tom Driscoll Family Benefit Dinner. 52-year-old Tom remains in a coma following a January traffic accident. The Greenford family includes Tom's wife Mary Therese and 14 children. The family is praying for a miracle - that Tom wakes. An account has been set up for the Driscoll family of Greenford at area First Place Bank branches
The benefit, which organizers hope will attract 3,000, continues from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.
BOARDMAN — The social hall at St. Charles Church here held enough people Saturday to be mistaken for a well-attended concert or sporting event, but the crowds were in fact a showing of support for one local family.
Just inside the doors of the social hall hangs a banner that reads “Welcome to the Driscoll Family Benefit.” Just beyond that banner stood three lines of volunteers serving up pasta, meatballs, sausage, greens and a variety of breads to lines of people that sometimes extended out the doors of the social hall.
Tom Driscoll, a compliance director for Fidelity Investments in Jersey City, N.J., was on his way back to New Jersey from the family’s Greenford home the night of Jan. 25 when he was involved in a traffic accident, leaving him in a coma.
Tom Driscoll, his wife Mary Therese, and their 14 children ranging in age from 4 to 24, moved to the area about 13 years ago.
Members of the community and the church, which the Driscolls attend, organized a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the family. It continues today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tony Provenzale, one of the organizers, said the goal is to serve 3,000 spaghetti dinners over the two days of the event. After little more than an hour of serving, volunteers had already sold a couple hundred dinners.
Provenzale said support from the community has been overwhelming.
“We thought the parish and the community would rally around them, and they really have done that,” he said. “The response from volunteers is unbelievable. The parish and the community have come together behind this family.”
Mary Therese Driscoll, who walked through the social hall offering smiles and hugs to friends and supporters, said the family has seen signs of progress in Tom Driscoll this week. Her 52-year-old husband of 25 years is responding and following simple commands such as squeezing and releasing his hands. His eyes are also contracting, she said.
Still, while the family prays and waits for continued improvement in their husband and father, Mary Therese says they’re grateful for the support from the community.
“This is just unbelievable,” she said while looking around the packed social hall. “When you are not originally from here and receive this level of support from the Youngstown community, this has to be the greatest place to live.”
Those attending the benefit came from farther than just the surrounding community.
Patti and Judy Dambach, sisters who grew up in Cleveland with Mary Therese, but have never met Tom, drove down from Cleveland to enjoy dinner and offer support.
“We have not seen her in about 30 years, but we are here to support her,” said Patti Dambach. “Our neighborhood was close and it was one of those things where you may not see each other for years, but when something like this happens we are here for each other.”
Thomas Driscoll III, 24, who is finishing his last year of law school at the University of Toledo, said the family is coming together, but is grateful for the support shown from those such as the Dambachs.
“We are just sticking together trying to keep some semblance of order at the house. Everyone who is away comes home as often as possible,” he said while greeting those attending the benefit. “We are extremely grateful to the people of the area. It’s hard to even put it into words.”
jgoodwin@vindy.com