Evan Spirito Memorial Foundation

$23,825 – 174% OF GOAL RAISED!

On April 30^th, 2016, Tony Spirito & David Quon summited the Incline.  Despite April snowfall, 18 friends, family and former teammates joined the climb, 16 climbers made it to the summit, including 4 of Evan & Chris’s Colorado College teammates as well as the 3 Quon daughters and a number of their friends.  Thanks to all the climbers for making it a very special trek!

Thanks to all our generous donors, we have met our goal and then some!!  We are especially grateful to Levi Citarella, Greta Francis, and the Diggins Family, our Pike’s Peak donors. The Citarella family have been extremely strong supporters of the Foundation since it’s inception. Greta has made incredibly generous donations to the Foundation last year and this year in memory of her father, Paul, who died of nonsmall cell lung cancer, like Evan. The Diggins Family, summer neighbors of the Spirito family, have also been strong and generous supporters of the Foundation since its inception.  And an extra special mention to 7 year old Ethan Wolff for emptying his savings bank and donating to the Foundation. Thank you, Ethan!

The Incline in Manitou Springs, Colorado was originally a cog railroad track built to bring building supplies up to crews working on Pike’s Peak.   Today, the railroad ties from the cog railroad serve as a stairway up a portion of Pike’s Peak.  Although the Incline is only about one mile in length (0.88 miles to be exact), the ascension averages a 41% incline (68% at its highest) and there isa 2,000 foot climb in elevation from 6000 to 8000 feet.

Please consider supporting cancer research so another person with lung cancer can get a chance to climb the Incline.   

Donations can be made online here:  http://evanspirito.com/donate/

or by mail at: EVAN SPIRITO MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 11 South Angell St, Box 326, Providence, RI 02906

Your generosity is, as always, greatly appreciated.

The Evan Spirito Memorial Foundation Board of Directors

PIKES PEAK DONORS
Levi Citarella
Diggins Family
Greta Francis in memory of her father

SUMMIT DONORS
Nancy Baybutt
John & Dawn Baybutt
Larry Brown
Jean & Bob Cole
Daniel Dickstein
Beth & Brian Fallon
Karin & Chris Fallon
Jody Fazzano
Vincent Forleo
Greg & Nancy Fritz
General Reinsurance Corp
Kelly Griffin
Evan & Marcia Livada
Angus MacDonald
Susan & Michael McCampell
Deborah Miller
Terry & Pat Moran
Steve & Fran Rasmussen
Hillar Schwertner
The Seminara Group
Tom & Betsy Tracy

BASECAMP DONORS
Dan Bagner
Diane & Jim Barton
Cynthia Battle
Fred & Mary Lou Baybutt
Sara Becker
Courtney Bell
Jonathan Boc
Christine & Greg Boc
Julie Boergers
Whit Brighton
Julie & Matt Bromberg
Otis, Wendy & Trevor Brown
MK Cancielliere
Christine Cha
Tom Chun
Dave & Peg Ciarlone
Matt Clark
Alex Cole
Jane & Connie Coleman
Alice Creager
Tim Currie
Nate Danforth
Liam Deegan
Prabhat Dhar
Bev Ehrich & Carl Freedman
David & Pam Faust
Karen Friend
Brandon Gibb & Meredith Coles
JJ Gilbane
Mort & Irene Glasser
Judy Gomez
Rod Gragg
Hannah Graves
Dick Gregory
Philip Gregory
Marjorie Grinnan
Rob & Liz Hackett
Kate Hanna
Colin Harrington
Chantelle Hart
Selby Hayes
Lynn Hernandez
Horatio Hojman
Chris Houck
Margaret Howard
Heather Hower
Chris & Betsy Hunt
Jeff Hunt
Ian Hunter
Elissa Jelalian
Vivien & Lauren Jones
Chris Kahler
Jack Kanne
John Michael Kehoe
Kerri Kim
Celia Lescano in honor of Karen Flanigan
Jim Linakis
Debra Lobato
Kathy Low
Michael & Marion Mariner
Maya Massing-Schaffer
David Mauro
Dave & Charisse Mayer
Christine McClure & Mark Galvin
Beth McQuaid
Mike Mello
Chip Millen
Bridget Nestor
Kevin Newmark & Helen Lacouture
Kim O’Brien
Matt Osofisan & Christiann Ballard
Paul Paganelli & Kerry O’Brien
Megan Peimer
Wendy Plante
Mary Politi
Donn Posner
Mitch Prinstein
Deb Rasile
James & Katherine Reiser
Leigh Reposa
Brett Requintina
Ken Rickler
Ginny Rider
Pete Rogers
Mary Rogers
Noelle Rozakos
Schmid Family
Peter Schmitz
Paul Silver & Kit Haspel
Andrew Silver
Diane Silvia
Maryellen Spirito
Lou & Eugenie Spirito
Lori Stark
Greg Stuart
Jonathan Talamo & Andrea Robinson
Tracy Tevyaw
Alysha Thompson
Sarah Tonry
Casey Stieger & Adam Tracy
Zoe Trout
Barb Tylenda
Golfo Tzilos
Ethan Wolf
Shirley Yen Matloff
David Zazzaro
Steve & Paula Zevitas
Hannah Zuckerman

GOLF RESULTS

The Foundation’s Third Annual Golf Tournament was held on June 23, 2014.  It was a beautiful day for golf, thanks to everyone who came out and played!

Congratulations to our prize winners:

1st Place Team: Peter Sheehan, Jack Walsh, Rick Walsh & Mark Chafee

2nd Place Team: Dave Rampone, Dan Rampone, Gary Rose & Brad Bellows

3rd Place Team: McLouglin & Moran Team- Patrick Moran, David Frye, David Frye Jr & Bob Cavanagh

Men’s longest drive:  Jon Koch

Women’s longest drive:  Amy Soisson

Men’s closest to hole: Gary Rose

Women’s closest to hole: Beth Fallon

FISHING RESULTS

This year we held a fishing derby during the month of June leading up to the golf tournament, thanks to all the participants, we hope you’ll join us again next year!

Congratulations to our prize winners:

Top Male Angler (saltwater): Matt O

Top Female Angler: Celia Lescano

Top Junior Angler: Zachary Carter

Biggest Striped Bass: Kevin Carter

Biggest Bluefish: Greg Fritz

Top Angler (freshwater): Tom Baybutt

GOLF RESULTS

The Foundation’s second annual Golf Tournament was held on June 24, 2013. There was a great turn-out on a very hot day.

Congratulations to our prize winners:

Men’s longest drive – Flynn Grinnan

Men’s closest to pin – Ted Mariner

Women’s longest drive – Anne Fallon

Women’s closest to pin – Beth Fallon

Team low net – Colin Hyland, Angus MacDonald, Kevin O’Brien, Dick Gregory

Team low net (runner-up) – Peter Sheehan, Rob Kermes, Bob Quirk, and Peter Gates

FISHING RESULTS

The Foundation’s first Fishing Tournament took place on June 23rd.

Congratulations to our prize winners:

Male angler: Matt Osofisan 3 bluefish and 1 striper

Female angler: Casey Stieger; 1 bluefish and 1 striper

Youngest angler: Callie Mangan

Over the summer Evan’s friend and Moses Brown classmate, Prabhat Dhar, organized The Run for Evan 7 as part of the San Francisco Giant Half Marathon held on August 4th, 2013.  The group raised $6,000, 100% of which was donated through the foundation to Dr Shaw’s lab at MGH in support of non-small cell lung cancer research.  Raising the total donation this year from $50,000 $56,000.

We at The Foundation are extremely grateful to this dedicated group of friends for their fundraising efforts and for holding Evan’s memory so close.

Thanks to those who ran with Prabhat:

Courtney Bell
Nathaniel Ring
Nikhil Sen
Kristin Rider
Ginny Rider
Sam Hartnett
Holly McHugh
Martelle Simpson
Buck McKenna
Blair Swift
Hunter Sprole
Kelson Brighton
Stefan Viragh
Katy Stetson

On November 23rd, Moses Brown dedicated a display of Evan’s football, hockey, and lacrosse jerseys in the Fallon Lobby of the Moses Brown Fieldhouse.  The inscription on the accompanying plaque reads as follows:
Evan Spirito was a beloved member of the Moses Brown community who passed away far too young after a valiant battle with lung cancer.  He was known for his gentle kindness, humble persona, positive outlook, quick-wit, and determination.  On the field, Evan was a talented athlete who earned the Twelve Seasons Award at MB in football, hockey, and lacrosse.  Evan’s competitiveness was matched only by the encouragement and quiet leadership he provided to his teammates. He was the captain of the football and lacrosse teams in his senior year and went on to play both sports at Colorado College.  His last athletic contribution was as a children’s ski instructor in Vail, CO.  Evan will forever be remembered by his classmates, teammates, teachers, coaches, family and friends for his courage and friendship.

When Evan was diagnosed in January, 2009, his cancer was very advanced and his prognosis was poor.  Treatment success with more advanced cancers is limited and much more work needs to be done.  On October 12, 2012, the Foundation established a research fund in Evan’s name with a $50,000 donation to the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. The funds were allocated to the research lab of Evan’s doctor, Alice Shaw, M.D., Ph.D. The goal of her research is to develop new therapies that target the specific genetic make-up of an individual’s cancer. This new approach helps speed the discovery and delivery of new targeted therapies into direct patient care as each patient’s cancer cells can be analyzed to determine the specific genetic make-up of the cancer.
In Evan’s case, he had an excellent response to one of the targeted therapies for about a year and then a second response to a different targeted therapy for a shorter period of time.

On November 17^th, Anne Fallon participated in the Spartan Race at Fenway Park.  A group of dedicated friends and coworkers, called the Spirito Spartans 7, joined Anne in this fun but challenging obstacle course experience in order to raise money for the Foundation.  All of the over $10,000 raised by the team will be donated directly to the research fund in Evan’s name at the MGH Cancer Center.

In October, the newly renovated El Pomar Athletic Center at Colorado College was re-opened.   A plaque in Evan’s name is installed outside the Assistant Lacrosse Coaches office with an inscription that reads as follows:
This office is a gift from Anthony and Susan Spirito in memory of their son, Evan ’10 and in recognition of the support he received from his coaches and fellow athletes while at CC.

The donation for this was made with personal funds from the family, but we’d like to share the memorial with all the friends of the foundation.

In May, a bench overlooking the football/lacrosse field in the shadow of Pikes Peak was dedicated in Evan’s memory at Colorado College.  The bench sits under a tree dedicated to Evan’s friend and lacrosse teammate, Chris Quon, who also died too young. We chose to dedicate the bench during the weekend of the Quony Cup, a soccer tournament to raise money for cancer research started by Chris Quon, while he was a student at CC, in honor of his grandfathers who both were diagnosed with cancer.  After Chris passed away in the fall of 2009, the tournament has continued each year in his honor as the Quony Cup.  This year the Quon family chose to  dedicate the Quony cup to the memory of Evan and  Chris.  CC Alums came from all over the country to take part in the cup, which is a testament to the bonds formed amongst these friends during their time at CC.  At the Quony Cup, the Foundation donated $2500 to the Quon family in support of the American Cancer Society.

The first annual Evan Spirito Memorial Golf Tournament was held on June 26^th at Quidnessett Country Club in North Kingstown, RI.  Over 100 friends of the Foundation turned out for the event.  Although the event was cut short by a rain storm, with the help of the players and our many family and corporate sponsors from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, the golf tournament raised over $80,000.

In conjunction with the golf tournament, we held an online silent auction with over 40 donated items including vacation rentals, paintings, jewelry, and Red Sox and Patriots tickets.  Thanks to all the auction organizers, auction donors, and auction bidders and winners, the silent auction raised almost $10,000.

SAVE THE DATE
SECOND ANNUAL EVAN SPIRITO MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
JUNE 24^TH, 2013
QUIDNESSETT COUNTRY CLUB, NORTH KINGSTOWN RI