Melrose Business to Help Boston Marathon Bombing Victim from Stoneham

Melrose-based Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet will be raising money for Marc Fucarile, a Boston Marathon bombing victim from Stoneham, according to store owner Rebecca Beraldi.

Charitable Cause

Beraldi, of Andover, will be having a fundraiser to benefit Fucarile on June 1 at her store, which has been in Melrose for 3 1/2 years. Fifteen percent of the store's total sales for that day, as well as all donations received from raffles, will go directly to Fucarile, she said.

"The fun part of it all will be starting at noon (on June 1)," she said. "We're going to have a beer vendor, a wine vendor and I have two food vendors but I'm hoping to get three more. 

"I'm very pleased with the generosity. I have not soliticed donations for raffles. We were just going to raffle things off here, and I have had people reach out to me and say 'Hey, I want to do this' and donate item x or item z."

Raffle Items Abound

Among the raffle items will be a couple of high-end bottles of wine, including a $100 bottle of Super Tuscan wine, gift certificates from local businesses and possibly a beer basket made up by a distributor, according to Beraldi.

"People just keep coming up with new ideas so whatever we get I'm very grateful for," Beraldi said. She added that people can donate whatever they can afford to give to participate in the raffles.

About the Victim

Fucarile recently opened his eyes for the first time at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he has been since being severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombings, according to Boston Globe reports.

Beraldi, who raised about $650 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in conjunction with a local Boston Marathon runner, explained why she opted to have the fundraiser for Fucarile.

"Obviously everyone wanted to give and the One Boston Fund is fantastic and they have raised so much money, (but) I just wanted to do something more personal," she said. "I wanted to connect with an individual and let them know that locally we know (the situation) and we care."

Beraldi said she does not know Fucarile but that she does know his fiancee, Jen Regan, is a registered nurse at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. Fucarile's right leg had to be amputated above the knee, while his left leg sustained multiple fractures, according to a USA Today report on the KSDK website. Half his body is burned, including some third-degree burns, reads the USA Today report.

"Shrapnel litters most of his body, the most serious being his heart," Regan said in the report. "Even though his heart was physically damaged, it did not lessen the size of his incredibly loving heart."

After learning what happened to Fucarile, Beraldi said she knew she had to do something to help him.

"When you hear the severity of the injuries, I just felt drawn towards him," she said. 

How to Make a Donation

Fucarile's cousins have created a fund to raise money for Fucarile. Donations can be made at the Help Marc Fucarile website or by sending a check made payable to: The Marc Fucarile Fund, c/o Stoneham ME Federal Credit Union, 40 Pine Street, Stoneham, MA 02180.