Tony Lubrano knew the first place he’d go the next day after Night on the Town last night…to visit his father Pasquale’s final resting place and tell him of the night that raised $113,000 towards a cause to fight the sickness he succumbed to nine years ago. Pasquale was diagnosed with leukemia in 1991 and was told he had 18 months to live, but battled the disease for 15 years before passing away in 2006. Tony credited the doctors at Sloan-Kettering in giving the family patriarch the chance to see his eight grandchildren born.

“My mom cries as she hands these awards with her husband’s name on it every time,” Lubrano, Piccola Bussola owner and Mineola Chamber of Commerce Vice President. “That’s why I do this. To pay back [my parents]. Someone gave me 15 years of my father.”

The event was sponsored by the United Mavericks, a networking group of local businessmen and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Long Island (LLSLI), benefited the latter. Lubrano was taken aback by the support the event has garnered over the years.

“We’re not just going to surpass [the goal], we’re going to blow it away,” Lubrano said. “I always kept dreaming of $100,000 but didn’t get there. We usually sell better than $10,000 in raffles so I think we broke it.”

For LLSLI, which has been the benefactor for the last four Night on the Town events, the support for a cure is never bigger than each spring in Mineola.

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“I just want to say thanks for being here this evening to help find a cure for leukemia and lymphoma,” LLSLI Executive Director Sara Lipsky said.

The Mavericks have been a philanthropic force in New York, most notably its effort in organizing an annual, local contingent to travel to the Tunnel To Towers race in September. The event retraces the steps of FDNY fireman Stephen Siller who abandoned his truck and ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to help during the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Night on the Town keeps growing and I hope it never stops grown,” Maverick Nicholas Valastro said.

The 2014 extravaganza marked the second recipients of the Pasquale Lubrano Community Service Award to the event’s honorees, Senator Jack Martins and CPA Michael Costa. This year, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and H2M Architect David Mammina were commended with the glistering trophy.

“In supporting the United Mavericks, you’re supporting the great work the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Long Island does every day,” Mangano said.

Mammina has been involved with LLSLI since 2001. His brother-in-law battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma before passing away in 2010.

“It’s humbling to see so many people come out on the behalf of a charity,” Mammina said. “I’m sure that had my brother-in-law been diagnosed today, he’d still be alive.”

Night On The Town originally served as a fundraiser for the Corpus Christi and St. Aidan School in Mineola and Williston Park, respectively. Harry Zapiti, who’s been involved with the event since its inception, feels the event has come a long way and now serves as a beacon of hope for the ill.

“It’s heartwarming,” Zapiti said of the growth of the annual event. “It’s blossomed into an event that can help people.”