PITTSTON — As the Paint Pittston Pink (PPP) campaign turned the corner to the final week of fundraising, a pink carpet celebration was held at PAZZO restaurant on Route 315 Sept. 30.
The 110 attendees of the sold-out event were greeted by an army of photographers to take photos of guests under a portico in front of a PPP backdrop. The exterior and interior of the restaurant were lit up in pink, adding to the décor.
PAZZO has taken part in every PPP campaign since its inception, according to Corinne Agolino Salko, a member of the hosting Agolino family.
“We’ve been hosting this since its inception; we did the kick-off event the first year,” Salko said. “My mother (Carmelina Agolino) is a survivor so we were always sponsors because of her. I feel like, on behalf of our mother, it’s a great tribute to her.”
Donors were treated to hors d’oeuvres and a pasta dish throughout the evening. Gift baskets were also raffled at the end of the night.
Qiana Lehman, co-founder of PPP, said the response year after year has been a tremendous boost to the PPP campaign since the Agolino family has supported the effort since its very first year.
“We do great because the Agolino family does a really good job of providing great food and beverages and atmosphere so everybody wants to come here,” Lehman said. “Tonight’s theme is a champagne party so there is a champagne special and our decorations are champagne. It’s just a time for the community to get together and just have some fun.”
Joining the party for the first time was Taylor Powers, 23, of Duryea, who recently learned she has thyroid cancer.
“I wasn’t involved with PPP until recently. I found out a couple of people I knew got cancer and then I also found out I had thyroid cancer,” Powers said. “Matthew Macaluso, who is a close friend of mine, has Ewing sarcoma so we wanted to do more of the cancer fundraisers.”
Powers said her prognosis is good but she has to stay on top of her case with doctor follow-upsrs.
“The diagnosis was definitely tough at first to realize that you have cancer but then you look at someone like Matthew Macaluso who has something that he had to go through chemo and how strong he is,” Powers said, putting her diagnosis into perspective.
