Carrying out a father's dream
Son honors late father by raising money for local charities
By Alysa Stryker
Last Updated:6:08 PM EST 1/28/10 Section: News
"I want to try to help him make connections," said Friel. "He's going to be helping us make a lot of people's dreams come true."
The first event was held at Tribeca on Jan. 15 in downtown Rochester. The crowd started to come in around 11:30 p.m. but unfortunately, many of those who came were not aware that there was a special event taking place.
Those who were aware of the event thought it was for a good cause and were glad that they could help a charity. "It seems like a good cause," said Mya Samuels, 19, from Rochester.
Originally there was supposed to be an open bar with an overhead charge that would all go towards the charities, and the rest of the night would be just like any other night out at a club. The club had a VIP section open and live DJs playing.
Earlier in the day, a Facebook message was sent to all members of the group for the Tribeca event saying that the open bar was canceled, something that was out of Forte's hands.
Although disappointed with the first event's turnout, Forte plans to push forward with
enthusiasm.
"With your 10 dollars, you're having the same time you would at any other club, and helping somebody who never even heard of a cell phone before," Forte said.
"A lot of people would not be poor or starving right now if someone would just help out one person."
On a quarterly basis, every three months out of the year, I give her (Friel) 25 to 50 percent of the proceeds, and the other 50 percent goes to putting together another event, said Forte.
"When my dad passed I was thinking, if I passed today, what could somebody say about Lawrence?
"I want to make sure that I can leave doing something."
ajs03869@sjfc.edu
The first event was held at Tribeca on Jan. 15 in downtown Rochester. The crowd started to come in around 11:30 p.m. but unfortunately, many of those who came were not aware that there was a special event taking place.
Those who were aware of the event thought it was for a good cause and were glad that they could help a charity. "It seems like a good cause," said Mya Samuels, 19, from Rochester.
Originally there was supposed to be an open bar with an overhead charge that would all go towards the charities, and the rest of the night would be just like any other night out at a club. The club had a VIP section open and live DJs playing.
Earlier in the day, a Facebook message was sent to all members of the group for the Tribeca event saying that the open bar was canceled, something that was out of Forte's hands.
Although disappointed with the first event's turnout, Forte plans to push forward with
enthusiasm.
"With your 10 dollars, you're having the same time you would at any other club, and helping somebody who never even heard of a cell phone before," Forte said.
"A lot of people would not be poor or starving right now if someone would just help out one person."
On a quarterly basis, every three months out of the year, I give her (Friel) 25 to 50 percent of the proceeds, and the other 50 percent goes to putting together another event, said Forte.
"When my dad passed I was thinking, if I passed today, what could somebody say about Lawrence?
"I want to make sure that I can leave doing something."
ajs03869@sjfc.edu
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