Sixteen-year-old Daniel Galorenzo of Morris Plains, N.J., played clarinet in his school band and dreamed of being a rock star. He also was a gifted athlete who competed on Seton Hall Prep School’s varsity soccer and wrestling teams. Following a victorious evening match on Feb. 6, 2002, he was helping teammates roll up mats when he suddenly was overcome by crippling pain. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he passed away during emergency surgery for an aortic aneurysm.
Daniel’s parents, Allen and JoAnn, and his older brother, Brad, then 17, were devastated. Even now, Allen Galorenzo says, words sometimes fail him when he is asked about his son.
“His most noticeable quality was his infectious smile,” he says. “He had a great smile.”
With his quick, sarcastic wit and playful charm, Daniel was able to win over a new friend or warm up a roomful of people, his parents say.
Jo Ann Galorenzo says her mother’s nickname for Daniel, “the loveable Skootch,” evokes her son’s sense of fun.
“He always thought of himself as shy, but he was very friendly. There was nothing shy about him! He would have everybody in stitches with imitations of his coaches or teachers.”
Channeling Grief
For two years, the family coped quietly with their grief. Then, one day, while Allen Galorenzo and his lifetime friend, Phil Orsi, were golfing – a pastime Daniel also enjoyed – they conceived the idea of establishing a foundation in Daniel’s memory that would raise money for children with life-threatening illnesses. This fundraising effort would be centered around a golf outing.
“We thought that perhaps we would raise a couple of thousand dollars,” Allen Galorenzo says. “We are so fortunate to have a lot of friends, and there was just an outpouring when Daniel died. The idea also was to bring everybody together to be with us. I needed people around – that was a great part of my healing process.”
The first outing in 2004 raised $30,000. Since then, the Daniel Galorenzo Foundation has raised approximately $200,000 through golf outings and related events as well as contributions. All proceeds go to programs that directly help children. One beneficiary was a wrestling teammate of Daniel’s who needed a prosthetic leg following cancer surgery.
Although the Galorenzos never had been to Cleveland Clinic, in 2005, they decided to help the Children’s Hospital when Phil’s wife, Liz, gave them a Cleveland Clinic publication she had found that included an article on aortic aneurysms.
“I believe it was fate,” Allen Galorenzo says.
Since then, the foundation has made numerous gifts to the Children’s Hospital including a distraction machine featuring lights, bubbles and images that divert children’s attention during their treatments; flatscreen TVs and DVDs for patients and sleeper chairs for parents.
“We want to restore some dignity to children who are going through serious illnesses,” Allen Galorenzo says. “We want to put smiles on some faces and help families. Cleveland Clinic has provided us with the best forum to fulfill our mission. Although we’re giving gifts to a large entity, it seems so personal. We feel it’s one-on-one with the children, even though it’s hundreds of miles away.”
Keeping a Memory Alive
Their gifts also help keep Daniel’s memory alive.
“Cleveland Clinic has put engraved plates on the equipment we have donated showing that the gifts are from the Daniel Galorenzo Foundation,” he says. “We like the fact that Daniel’s name is there and that someone will look at that nameplate and wonder who he was.”
Story originally featured in the fall 2008 issue of Catalyst.
