Coffee maker supports Roc Solid

Published 6:37 pm Saturday, July 18, 2015

Massimo Zanetti employees Ryan McGiboney, left, and Joe Volpe assemble a bicycle at their workplace on Friday for the Roc Solid Foundation to pick up and deliver to a child with cancer.

Massimo Zanetti employees Ryan McGiboney, left, and Joe Volpe assemble a bicycle at their workplace on Friday for the Roc Solid Foundation to pick up and deliver to a child with cancer.

Employees at Massimo Zanetti Beverage Company on Progress Road eagerly anticipate Employee Appreciation Week every year — but not because of the things they get.

For the employees, the best part is getting to give back to the community as a team.

“They look forward to it every year,” said Suzanne Ary, internal communications manager for Massimo Zanetti. “I think it’s the best part of employee appreciation to them.”

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This year, for the eighth year running, the employees supported the Roc Solid Foundation, which benefits families with a child battling cancer.

About 20 bikes were assembled and donated to the foundation on Friday.

“Some of them are already committed to some of our families,” said Eric Newman, the cancer survivor who started the Roc Solid Foundation. The bicycles will be delivered in the coming days, he said.

Those held in reserve will be delivered whenever the foundation builds a swingset for the family — the foundation’s signature program, known as Play It Forward.

The foundation started benefiting from Massimo Zanetti’s generosity when Maryanne Fiorella, who works in corporate and consumer affairs there, suggested it. Her son, John Janin, has been friends with Newman for years, Fiorella said. She also has been involved since the first fundraiser that got the foundation off the ground.

“This is where my heart is,” she said on Friday.

Massimo Zanetti employees also enjoy free family trips to Busch Gardens and fun activities at work during their Employee Appreciation Week, Ary said.

In addition to building swingsets and providing bikes, the foundation provides room remodels for older children or when the living situation — such as an apartment — prevents Roc Solid from being able to build a playset. Teenagers battling cancer can also get iPads from the foundation, and kids with cancer can participate in the “When I Grow Up” project, allowing them to pair up with real-life professionals to see what the future holds in their dream professions.

The foundation also provides Ready Bags to families who have recently learned their children have cancer. Each bag contains everything a family might need during an unexpected hospital stay, including a blanket, toiletries, pens, journals, coloring books, a preloaded debit card, quarters for the vending machines, and an Amazon Kindle Fire.

The foundation also is able to help with miscellaneous other needs of families with a child battling cancer, such as work around the house or yard maintenance.

For information on how you can help, visit www.rocsolidfoundation.org.