Red Nose day in Johnston nothing to sneeze at

CARROLL’S CLASS: Nicole Carroll’s class at the Early Childhood Center shows off their red noses during last Thursday’s school-wide fund-raising effort.

(Sun Rise photos by Pete Fontaine)

PARILLO’S PACK: These children took time out of Susan Parillo’s physical education and health class last Thursday to try on their red noses and help others.

GILROY’S GROUP: Some super special smiles were in some cases hidden – in part – when members of Ms. Molly Gilroy’s ECC class tried on their respective red noses.

PEGGY’S PACK: Room 107 at the ECC, which is home for Peggy Lessa’s class, was filled with lots of fun when each of the children tried on their red noses.

SUPER STAFFERS: Beauty advisor MaryEllen Dolman, shift leader Krystal Lopes, photo specialist Alicia Mekuto and manager Kristy Pistacchio were among those Walgreens staff members who helped make Ladies Night II a success.

Johnston Sun Rise · Thursday, June 1, 2017 9:30 am

By Pete Fontaine

It didn’t matter where you looked last Thursday; people all over Johnston were sporting red noses.

From Brown Avenue School to a Small World Day Care, the color of the day – and night – was red and people of all ages made sure Red Nose Day II in Johnston broke a record-setting total of $2,129.50 that will help fight poverty that strikes children.

“The schools and our second annual Ladies Night at Bar 101 more than doubled last year’s total of $1,000,” said Kristy Pistacchio, manager at Walgreens on Plainfield Pike, who again chaired the daylong ambitious fundraiser. “The children had so much fun wearing and posing in their noses.”

Red Nose Day II in Johnston was part of a national program, sponsored and supported by Walgreens, which raises millions of dollars in donations that result in meals, healthcare and educational opportunities for children in poverty.

“It can create an emotional connection,” said Pistacchio, who has children and is the wife of Johnston Firefighter Jon Pistacchio. “As of May 30, Walgreens had sold more than 10.3 million noses as part of a goal of 15 million and raised more than $18 million, including $5.5 million in cash donations.”

As Pistacchio said, “What else can we do in the final days of this campaign?”

For starters, Red Nose Day doesn’t end until Saturday, the last day Walgreens will be selling red noses as well as pens, pins and wrist bands and collecting donations in stores.

Walgreens, Pistacchio said, is the exclusive retailer of the Red Nose and last Thursday evening received plenty of exposure during a nationally-televised three-hour special that aired on NBC-TV and included Oscar winner Julie Roberts making a heart-wrenching visit to Kibera, Kenya where she met with mothers who had lost children to preventable diseases like pneumonia and rotavirus – underscoring the urgency of viewers making donations to help provide families like these with vaccines.

In Johnston, there were no television cameras, just “lots of love” as Pistacchio put it, from school officials at the Early Childhood Center, Sarah Dyer Barnes, Thornton, Winsor Hill and a Small World Day Care to help the town’s public schools send a message of caring about striking out children who are in poverty.

There were several other acts of caring – in an extraordinary and unmatched way as Pistacchio said – from members of the Johnston Fire Department and officials from Union Local 1491 President Toni Mollicone and Vice President Jen Goldberger, just to name a few.

“I would like to thank the firefighters who made a generous donation and even purchased noses to stock on their trucks to help when children are scared or nervous,” Pistacchio said. “The kindness and caring of each member of the [Johnston] Fire Department is ever so special, always”

Meanwhile, Mollicone and Goldberger, along with Toni Mullane, were among the many women who took in Ladies Night II at Bar 101 where both men and the women enjoyed everything from music and a buffet courtesy of owners Pete and Justin and came from all over the state after viewing information on social media that brought in a significant number of attendees.

“The outpouring of people coming out in the rain to support our cause was amazing,” Pistacchio said. “Pete and Justin and their staff were generous allowing us to be there putting out a free buffer and donating to the cause as well.”

Moreover, vendors Rodan Fields, LipSense, Lularoe, Touchstone and Athena’s donated a percentage of their night’s proceeds back to the fund and that, Pistacchio said, “really, really helped put us over the top and more than double last year’s total money raised here in Johnston.”