HOWLAND, Ohio – Money raised at a celebrity bartending event at Salvatore’s Italian Grille will pay for 140,565 meals through Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.

“That’s huge,” said Renee Fuller, the food bank’s associate director. “We’re just so happy to be able to have that available to help more people.”

Restaurant representatives presented a $28,113 check – money raised at the event – to Fuller on Friday. 

“This is more than we expected, and especially during the holidays,” said Biljana Davanzo, Salvatore’s general manager. “We’re so excited to have this big of an amount for Second Harvest Food Bank.”

Fuller said it’s more than the food bank expected too. 

“We were here that night, and it was standing room only because there were so many people,” she said. “But we still would have never thought that that kind of money would be raised. So that just speaks so much of our people in our area – how they step up and help each other.”

Rosario Giampitti, a partner and one of the restaurant’s owners, said the amount raised was nearly triple what he expected. 

“It’s like giving food to people that need it,” he said. “I think it’s one of the best ways to raise money.”

Charles Recser, owner of Charles David Construction Design Inc., was the celebrity bartender for Salvatore’s Dec. 22 fundraiser.

Giampitti said restaurant owners decided to raise money for the food bank as a way to help the community.

“Community is a big thing for us,” he said. “The community is all of our customers, and they give us great business.”

Last year, Second Harvest provided more than 8 million meals in the Valley, and Fuller expects a similar number this year.

And donations like the one from the Salvatore’s event make a big impact.

“They’re hugely important because over the last couple of years, we’ve had to buy more food than we’ve had to buy in the past,” Fuller said.

That’s because of program cuts and availability, she said.

“In order to meet the need and when the need increases, we have to increase what we have in order to meet that need,” Fuller said. “So when we purchase more food, things like this will help us purchase more food. This might cover maybe a truckload of some produce for us, so that’s huge.”

Pictured at top: Rosario Giampitti, Charles Recser, Biljana Davanzo and Renee Fuller.