Dinner to benefit Samantha Eisenberg

As Bob Dachille and his wife, Darlene, enjoyed dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant, La Novella, he mentioned to owner Michael Cobi that they were organizing a fundraiser for the family of Samantha Eisenberg.
   
Eisenberg, who turns 21 in April, continues to recover from serious brain injuries sustained in an automobile accident on Feb. 12 in upstate New York.
   
“He said, ‘if you want to have it here you can do it,’” Bob Dachille said. “I didn’t even have to ask him.”

   
The fundraiser will be held at La Novella on April 19.
   
“I don’t know [Samantha] but when I heard the story, as an adult with kids of my own, I decided to help the family, said Michael Cobi, owner of La Novella.
   
Dachille then phoned his old college buddy Mike Panagatos for advice.
    
In addition to being owner of the Empress Diner, Panagatos is the 1st vice president for the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce and a longtime member of East Meadow Kiwanis.
   
Panagatos sat down with Dachille and answered all his questions about holding a fundraiser. “He gave me the road map to success,” Dachille said.
   
The Chamber and Kiwanis member invited Dachille to speak at the organizations’ recent meetings and offered to sell event tickets at his diner.
   
The Dachilles then reached out to local businesses to donate gift certificates or items to be raffled off at the dinner. Nearly every business happily provided Dachille with a donation, most without hesitation.
   
“The thing that sticks out most is when people really need you, people are there,” Dachille said. “I’m really proud to say I live in East Meadow.”
   
The Dachilles have known Eisenberg since the age of three.
   
The Samantha Eisenberg fundraiser dinner will be held on April 19 at La Novella Restaurant on 364 East Meadow Avenue, beginning at 6 p.m.
   
Tickets are $60 per person. The meal includes an exorbitant cocktail hour that includes mussels, stuffed mushrooms, eggplant rollatini, calamari, rigatoni alla vodka, Caesar salad and an array of hors d’oeuvres. There are several entrée choices, and dessert, soda, coffee and a cash bar.
  
Proceeds will be donated to Eisenberg’s family to help cover expenses as she recovers from her serious injuries.
  
To purchase tickets, or for more information, call Dachille at (516) 640-9438 or stop by the Empress Diner on 2490 Hempstead Tpke.