Sunday, July 3, was declared “Nicole DiGregorio Day” in the village of Massapequa Park.
Mayor Jeffrey Pravato declared the day in honor of a young woman who had finally returned home to Massapequa after months of active duty overseas. SPC Nicole DiGregorio was surprised by a special welcome home party, hosted by Adopt-a-Battalion, on fourth of July weekend. Family, friends and local officials were on hand to greet and thank DiGregorio for her service and to honor her with a plethora of awards, citations, certificates and an American Flag.
“We got in contact with Nicole because of Anthony, a young man who goes to Massapequa schools,” said Brian Parker, vice president of Adopt-a-Battalion “He comes down every Saturday to volunteer and one of his teachers taught Nicole when she went to school there. We got her information last October and I believe at that point, she was in Kuwait, so we started shipping her packages.”
From Kuwait, DiGregorio moved on to Iraq, where the philanthropic organization continued to send her packages from home. When DiGregorio arrived home safely on June 25, she recommended one of her friends to Adopt-a-Battalion, and now they are receiving what DiGregorio received while overseas. Adopt-a-Battalion has been in existence for 11 years, but this is the first time the charity has been shipping to someone locally and that they have been able to have a welcome home party for that person.
“We definitely wanted to go all out for today, so this is as much excitement for her as it is for us,” said Parker of the festivities.
The event, which was three months in the making, led Parker to reach out to DiGregorio’s family, local businesses, politicians and media outlets. The char
ity also printed new Adopt-A-Battalion banners just in time for Independence Day.
“Everyone said yes, and I’d like to thank the Massapequa Observer, The Shark radio station, all of the local politicians and Park Delicatessen in Massapequa Park, they dropped the food off and did a great job,” said Parker, expressing gratitude. “I would love to do this again. If we can ship to somebody anywhere on Long Island and then they come home, well, that would be great.”
Each elected official praised DiGregorio for her bravery and service and all offered words of thanks.
“We are very fortunate to have this community, and we are here today to say thank you,” said Assemblyman Joseph Saladino. “You set the bar for every young person and for every woman because you have the right stuff.”
Pravato went on to say that Massapequa Park is the “all American village,” and Adopt-a-Battalion president Richard Olson, shared the story of how the charity’s packages made their way to the local ranger.
“We shipped a total of 1,271 packages last year, and of those, 204 went to Nicole,” he said. “The mission of the soldiers is to help secure a safer and more stable life for us and the members of the free world through their sacrifice and the sac
rifice of their families they leave behind. They are all volunteers…they are wiling to put their lives in harm’s way for a better America and whatever we can do to make their lives a little bit better while they are there doing what they do best, then that is our duty.”
As for DiGregorio, although she is happy to be home, she has already reenlisted. But is looking forward to some time with her family while she is here.
“Today means everything to me. It was really nice and I wasn’t expecting it, to see my family,” said DiGregorio. “Most of my family I haven’t even seen
yet was here, so it was overwhelming a little bit. But it’s so great to be back home. It’s nice to be back in my comfort zone where I know everybody and everything.”
Thank you Ranger DiGregorio, from all of Massapequa.
