RICKY,Inc

The Second Annual Ricky, Inc. Virtual Auction has come to an end in spectacular fashion. Due to the compassion and generosity of the many people who opened their hearts to us and participated in the auction either by donating an item, bidding on an item or just making a thoughtful donation; the auction became an overwhelming success. 

Everyone that participated enjoyed the daily (sometimes hourly) thrill of checking in on their bid to see the status of the item they bid on. Most people were able to bid on multiple items as our gift list this year was comprised of more than 65 gifts. We have received many compliments on the wide variety of items that were offered and we want to express our sincerest thanks and appreciation to all of those that donated these great auction items. Our donor and sponsor list has grown over the past year and we will strive to continue to keep this successful growth into the coming years.

The Jimmy Tingle comedy show was a phenomenal success and great way to end the auction. Jimmy has been a wonderful friend to us and we cannot express our thanks enough to him for what he has done to support us and help us in our mission to keep Ricky's name and memory alive. His comedy show provided registered auction bidders with lots of laughs and was received very well by all that "zoomed-in".

We far exceeded our original fund-raising goal by reaching approximately 140% of our expected goal. This will enable us to provide even more backpacks to those in crisis and we are anticipating being able to provide a financial sponsorship to someone suffering from substance use disorder that cannot afford to pay for their first month in treatment. It will also allow us to add new organizations to be recipients of our backpack program: increasing the number of persons that will not only receive a backpack and it's valuable resource booklet, but provide a degree of relief from life on the streets and possibly help them realize that they matter. Letting a person in a seemingly hopeless crisis know that someone cares can be a life-saving factor in their decision to seek recovery. 

On behalf of the Ricky, Inc. Board of Directors, our Street Outreach Coordinators and all of our families and friends, we extend our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your kindness, generosity and your participation in making our fund raising event a huge success. We look forward to the Third Annual Ricky, Inc. Auction in 2022 and hope for your continued support of our organization in the future.

Thank you for helping us to honor and remember our beautiful boy Ricky.

God Bless you for your kindness,

Rich & Bernadette Giacoppo 

On Thursday August 26, 2021 Ricky, Inc. visited AHOPE & PAATHS in Boston. They were distributed 10 draw-string backpacks, snacks and juice boxes each. The staff at both of these Boston Public Health Organizations are so very dedicated to the wonderful work that they do. We thank them for dedication to not only their jobs but to the less fortune souls that they provide services too. They are truly working in the trenches......... great job !

We then went to Andrew House - Boston and delivered some care packages of a couple of dozen pairs of socks, boxes of snacks and boxes of juice boxes for the men in Detox. We also delivered more books to be placed in the Ricky Giacoppo Memorial Reading Room.

On Thursday Sept. 2, 2021 we visited Andrew House in Stoughton and made a delivery of two dozen pairs of socks, boxes of snacks and boxes of juice boxes. We were able to meet with the male clients in detox and speak with them about our organization.  A few of them knew Ricky and shared some memories of him with us. It was very emotional but also very helpful as we love to meet people who knew him and have them share their stories with us.

On Sunday Sept. 5, 2021 we brought back some more supplies to Stoughton like books and calendars that some of the residents had requested.

We are starting our Spring backpack distribution in the next few weeks. Our plan is to provide over 200 backpacks to recovery homes, Detox programs, Department of Public Health programs that serve those with substance use disorder, and street outreach in the Mass Ave Boston area. Since we started this program in March 2020, we have been able to distribute over 850 filled backpacks to persons in need due to the kindness, compassion  and generosity of people like you.

We are in the process of developing a partnership with a recovery home in which we will sponsor one person who has been accepted at the recovery home and provide their first month rent, a food store card, and backpack.  

Once someone is released from detox, the next step is to enter a recovery home. Most people in this position cannot afford the first months’ rent in order to get accepted into the house in the first place. With our assistance they can have a place to call home for a month while they pursue employment so that they can pay their own rent and rebuild their lives. 

This is our first step in expanding our service to those with SUD seeking recovery. At this time our plan is to sponsor one male and one female per year. With enough support, we will be able to offer more persons seeking recovery opportunities each year.

We would greatly appreciate donations towards our current goals of helping as many persons in need as possible. 

Please visit the Help Our Cause link on this website Rickyinc.org. 

Donations can be made from there either through PayPal, visiting our Amazon wish list, or sending a monetary donation to our PO Box. Please make out checks to Ricky, Inc.

"Make a difference is someones life."

Thank you in the name of our beloved son Ricky