New Britain’s Good Old Boys Raise Funds for Prudence Crandall Center
By Editor at August 18, 2023 | 6:45 pm | Print
Saint George’s Greek Hall was once again filled with dancing, laughter, great food, and friends during the Good Old Boys 7th annual Remember When Dance in April. This popular event not only brings together New Britain friends who have known each other for decades, but it also raises critical funding for families in need in our community. “The main focus of the dance was to have the proceeds go to a New Britain based charity, which was really important to the dance committee,” stated Joe Cisz, “Prudence Crandall Center was chosen by Frank DeFelice and the remainder of the committee embraced the suggestion and 5 years later here we are, still supporting a great organization.”
For the past 5 years, The Good Old Boys Dance Committee has selected Prudence Crandall Center (PCC) to benefit from their efforts and the results have been incredible. The group has raised a total of $27,000 to provide safety, healing, and hope for the victims of domestic violence and their children served by PCC. Their donations have helped bridge budget gaps across the agency’s many program areas, providing safe shelter to victims and children in crisis; affordable long-term homes for survivors and their families; counseling and advocacy for thousands of victims of family violence each year; and prevention education for our youth and the community to break cycles of violence.
“While the demand for our services continues to rise, our need for community support is greater than ever. Once again, the Good Old Boys have stepped up to raise much-needed funding for Prudence Crandall Center and the 8,000 lives we touch each year. We are so grateful for their efforts,” said Barbara Damon, PCC Executive Director. “We are extremely honored by their compassion, commitment, and support of our work. They are an a amazing group of men – giving their time year after year to help end violence in our community and keep victims and their children safe.”
The members of the dance committee include Richard Ronzello, John Russo, Bill Flynn, Frank DeFelice, Feno Samperi, Robert Dezi, Joe Cisz, Lenny Rinaldini, John Navarro, William Breton, Richard D’Agata, Rich “Bono” Bonfiglio, and Tony Fuchillo. Fifty years ago, these men were in high school and belonged to clubs like the Earls, TK’s and the Lords - all familiar names in New Britain at that time. They once competed over cars and girls, they were “friendly adversaries or frenemies”, but now these men are great friends who meet for coffee every month. Several years ago, the group organized a reunion. It was so successful that they decided to make it an annual event. The group is still dancing and having fun, with a wonderful turn-out every year, but now proceeds are donated to charitable organizations.
