Pietro’s Fight to hold second annual Fight Night

It’s time for round two. Pietrosfight.org is holding Fight Night Round Two at El Caribe Country Club on March 20, a benefit to raise money to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This disease creates muscle weakness, which increasingly worsens over time. It is considered the most lethal and common childhood disorder. Kids diagnosed at a young age usually perish from the disease by their late teens or early twenties.

Four-year-old Pietro Scarso was diagnosed with DMD when he was three. At the time, parents Manni and Dayna Scarso decided to create a foundation not only to raise awareness of the lethal disease, but to also to find a cure. In 2012, the non-profit organization Pietrosfight.org was born.

“All the money we raise goes to research and drug companies,” said Samantha Altilio, executive director of Pietrosfight.org. “Within this year, we made so many advancements in drugs with the FDA and it’s all because of small organizations, such as this one.”

Pietrosfight.org holds four fundraisers per year, including a 5K, a Halloween event and a kids’ event. However, Fight Night is considered the end –of-the-year event as well as the most profitable one.

Last year’s event, also held at El Caribe, raised over $200,000. “It was a fun fundraiser with great entertainment. We had local dance team Beyond Dance, who did a dance in his honor,” added Altilio

For the entire year, the organization raised $400,000. Altilio and Pietrosfight.org credit their growing progress in large part to Bay Ridgeites. “The Bay Ridge community is amazing. Everyone is selfless. We are never alone in this, ever,” said Altilio. “Last year we sold out the event with 650 people in attendance and we have almost sold out this year too.”

One Brooklynite in particular who has been a significant supporter of the cause is Senator Marty Golden. “He’s been our number one supporter,” she said. With Golden’s help, a proposal was made in Albany with the Pietro Foundation to fast-track a medication that could potentially increase Pietro’s life, and others suffering from DMD, by 15 years.

This year’s Fight Night will be similar to the previous one, including an open bar, raffles, dancing, dinner and DJ entertainment. One new addition will be the honoring of the Sabbagh Family, who are donating a 2014 Honda Accord LX model to be raffled off.

As for Pietro, although he’s been too young to attend many of the fundraisers (he attended the 5k and the kids’ day), he’s beginning to understand the support he’s received from friends and neighbors.

“We have magnets that say ‘pietrosfight.org’ and lots of cars display them in Bay Ridge. When he sees them, he’ll point them out and say, ‘Look. It’s my org’ referring to his name, which is adorable,” said Altilio.

Tickets for this year’s event are $150 per person, including a cocktail hour, five hours of open bar, dinner, entertainment by DJ Steven Retas of SR Entertainment, dancing, a photo booth by Creative Shots, and a performance by Beyond Dance.

Cake will be provided by Villabate and dessert by Aunt Butchie’s. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and conclude at 1 a.m. To purchase tickets or learn more about Fight Night as well as Pietro, visit www.pietrosfight.org.