Mayor Carlo DeMaria thanks Dennis Cataldo and the entire Cataldo organization for their willingness to go above and beyond to help a member of the community.
In Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. speech, Mayor DeMaria highlighted Everett’s willingness to come together as a community. Last week, the Cataldo company donated a handicap-accessible van to Brandon Conde, who had suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury which rendered him a tetraplegic this past July.
Mayor DeMaria stated, “People like Dennis Cataldo continue to show that this is much more than just a city; Everett is a community. Cataldo’s extremely generous donation to Brandon Conde will make life much more easier and give him much greater mobility than he would have had in a regular vehicle.”
Knowing Conde was facing an uphill battle following the accident, his friend and American Ambulance Association’s Stars of Life award recipient, Widmac Laterion, who is also a National Guard combat medic and paramedic with Cataldo Ambulance Service, started a GoFundMe page before reaching out to Mayor DeMaria.
Dennis Cataldo said, “Widmac Laterion is a true hero and caring person, who has made everyone at Cataldo Ambulance so proud and honored to work besides him. We are happy to donate this van to his good friend Brandon Conde.”
After discussing with his staff, Mayor DeMaria decided to dedicate a day to Conde. On October 24th – “Brandon Conde Day”— everyone city-wide, wore red and donated to Brandon’s cause. The fundraiser was spear-headed by Widmac and received an outpouring of support throughout the city.