Anna's family
Rita Forte
Josie Moniz
November 2017
This is a story of loss and love. This shows the ripple effect of one act of kindness, and how others can be inspired.
By all accounts, she was an example of strength and dignity. She was gracious, kind, and had a special love for helping children. She was the first person to jump on board when her friend, Rita Forte, had taken on producing Ghana Gift Bags in the fall of 2016. Anna Perrina-DiPede, a loving mom of four, a caring wife, and loyal friend, lost her fight with cancer in July 2017.
In October 2017, Rita sponsored Carol in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon as a tribute to Anna. She pledged $660 to honour each of Anna's children--choosing that amount because it would cover the costs to feed four children in Dekpor for an entire year. Rita used social media to put out the message to her circle of friends. Josie Moniz read it. She, too, donated.
Josie Moniz and Anna, friends for 36 years, ran a business called Avenue Home Decor together. Josie decided that she wanted to do make an even bigger impact in the memory of Anna. Two evenings in November, Josie hosted home parties selling women's accessories and gift baskets. The proceeds totaled $2650! Incredible! Josie chose to allocate the money to our food programme.
Clearly Anna made an impact on those she met, as so many chose to attend Josie's home parties to support the cause in Anna's name.
Thank you to each and every one of you who made this possible. Thanks to Rita Forte for initially sharing our DSDO name with her circle of people. Thank you to Josie Moniz for hosting home parties and donating all of the proceeds to DSDO.
What an incredible gift!
Anna, you're still making a difference.
