Cruising for a family’s cause

Benefit boat trip aids Freeport sixth-grader with leukemia

Posted

Giovanni Villante loves sports — he was often spotted running the football field whenever he had the chance. “He’s always been a sports kid,” said Jamie Iacono, a longtime friend of the Villante family.

In June, however, Giovanni, 12, began having difficulty breathing and coughing a lot. “He was losing a lot of weight,” said his mother, Renee Villante. At first, doctors thought he had pneumonia, but a more dire diagnosis was soon revealed — Giovanni had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. When she was told, Villante collapsed on the floor.

ALL is a form of blood cancer that can spread to other parts of the body. “It’s the words a parent never wants to hear,” Villante said. “I was hurt, scared and in total disbelief.” The disease can be cured with treatment, and Giovanni is already in remission.

A sixth-grader who previously attended St. Christopher’s School in Baldwin, he is now home-schooled, and cannot play sports as he once did — his treatment calls for three years of chemotherapy. “To watch him, now that he’s not able to get out and play, it breaks all of our hearts,” Iacono said.

When Baldwinite Steve Sciortino, the owner of Delicious Moments Caterers, heard Giovanni’s story, he immediately wanted to help. Delicious Moments, along with other businesses, organized a Nov. 30 benefit cruise to help raise money for the family.

The Sapphire Princess, a party boat, sailed around the canals of Freeport for about three hours as family members and friends of the Villantes enjoyed music and food, and had the chance to enter raffles for prizes. Sciortino donated his catering services, and the owners of the Sapphire Princess operated the boat for the night free of charge.

DJ Collin Oliver, an Oceanside teenager who has performed professionally for two years, also donated his time to provide music for the night. Sciortino said he wanted to make sure that 100 percent of the money raised went to the Villante family. “When I found out about Gio, I said, we have to do something personal for them,” he said. A number of businesses also donated prizes that were raffled off throughout the night.

With tears in her eyes, Renee thanked those on the cruise for spending the night to help Giovanni, who recorded a short video message, telling everyone that he appreciated their support.

Sciortino often caters events at St. Christopher’s School in Baldwin, where Renee works as a secretary and her husband, Darren, is a custodian. But Sciortino said he first heard Giovanni’s story through the Baldwin-based Bradley Council of the Knights of Columbus. “A few of the members have children who have kids in the school,” he said.

Sciortino has raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which funds cancer research, for the past eight years by participating in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon every January. Each year he raises funds in honor of a different person afflicted with the disease. He will do so for Giovanni in the upcoming Disney World race.

The support for Giovanni has been overwhelming, his mother said. She added that his treatment has been tough not only on him, but on his entire family. She and Darren have taken extended breaks from work. “It’s a roller coaster ride,” she said. “You take it not even day by day but minute by minute, because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Villante said she was thankful for people like Iacono, who has helped care for her other children, including Giovanni’s twin brother and 13-year-old brother. The Villante family also has two older children, ages 23 and 27.