GREENFIELD — The members of local family that has faced a series of tragedies in recent weeks will be the beneficiaries of a weekend fundraiser hosted by the Greenfield Community Aquatics Team.
The group has planned a street festival and fundraiser — an event organizers are calling the H2Ohana Luau — to be held in the North Street Living Alley in downtown Greenfield from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Money raised will benefit the Russo family of Greenfield: Tiffany Russo, a mother of three, was put in a medically induced coma at the end of June after she suffered a stroke. While she was still in the hospital, her husband, Rob, was killed when a car he was working to repair fell off its jack and crushed him.
The couple’s three children, Hailey, Hannah and Harper, are now living with their grandparents, Garry and Deborah Liday of Greenwood.
Organizers of the upcoming fundraiser are hoping to ease the family’s hardship by raising money to cover the girls’ financial needs while their mother continues to recover.
Hailey and Hannah were members of the Greenfield Community Aquatics’ year-round competitive swim teams, said coach Emily Logan. The team members often become as close as family, so its current members wanted to come together to help the Russos.
Saturday’s fundraiser will feature a bounce house, music, food, a shaved ice truck for kids and a beer tent for adults.
Guests are asked to dress for the luau theme. T-shirts will be available for purchase at the event.
Online donations can be made at https://squareup.com/store/swimgcat.
Tiffany Russo told the Daily Reporter she’s been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support her family has received so far from the community.
She’s thankful for the visitors who came to the hospital; for the train of meals that have kept her parents’ refrigerator full for weeks; and gas cards that have been donated to them to help cover gas to get to and from doctor’s appointments.
She was overcome with emotion when the local swim teams asked if they could help more, she said. Now, she’s looking forward to attending, to see the faces of the many who have wanted to assist her family in its time of need.
“I’ve been blown away by everything,” she said, tears coming to her eyes. “It’s been amazing.”