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Spaghetti dinner will benefit family of Struthers toddler
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
When Milton Gonzalez heard that 1-year-old Adan Dorman had died last week after being struck by an SUV backing out of a Euclid Avenue driveway, his heart dropped.
“I was shocked. I was just thinking about what if that had happened to one of my kids,” Gonzalez said. “I thought, ‘I have to have a benefit dinner for the family, because they’ve done so much for me.’”
The spaghetti dinner will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at St. Nicholas Church Social Hall, 764 Fifth St., and will include a basket auction, 50-50 raffle, Aut Mori Grotto clowns, face-painting and a bake sale.
Proceeds from the dinner, which Gonzalez and other family friends began to organize almost immediately after the July 8 accident, will go toward paying funeral expenses.
Gonzalez said he’d like to raise at least $10,000 for the family, whom he’s known for about 15 years.
“I hope to have a pretty good turnout,” he said. “I know they’re struggling financially, and I want to do my best to help with giving them money.”
Organizers already have received several donations for the dinner from area businesses, such as Walmart and Gia Russa, and “a lot of people” from the community have contributed to the effort as well, said Eve Trimacco, a friend of the family.
“We got so many donations,” she said. “[Adan] was one of my high-school friends’ nephews. I just felt awful, and I was willing to help in any way that I could.”
Adan — the son of Mara Dorman, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the accident and had another child just days ago — would have turned 2 years old Aug. 16.
“He was a great kid. People loved him so much,” Gonzalez said. “It’s sad to see him gone, but I know he’s better up there.”
Tickets for the dinner will be sold at the door; the cost is $7 for adults and $3 for children age 3 to 10. In addition, monetary donations can be made to the Adan Dorman Benefit Fund at any Huntington Bank location.