Catanoso Family Donates $10K to Cape Christian Academy

CLERMONT — The Catanoso family has donated $10,000 to Cape Christian Academy in memory of beloved Alan Catanoso to assist families in need and enable them to attend.
Alan, a 1973 graduate of Wildwood High School, died at the age of 49 from a brain tumor Dec. 17, 2004.
Lenny Catanoso and Dick Sterling, a member of Cape Christian Academy Board of Directors, told the Herald the funds are intended to defray tuition cost to help students get a Christian education.
“He was my business partner for 30 years,” Lenny said of his brother.
Leonard, Sr. and Connie Catanoso’s children, Marlene, Justin, Lenny and the late Alan operate the family businesses, The Garden Greenhouse and Nursery, Avalon Campground and Woodland Village retail shops here. All have been family owned and operated for three generations, since 1950 when it first started in North Wildwood.
“After Alan passed, the family wanted to do something in his memory. We felt that this opportunity (at Cape Christian Academy) was the best because the money would go to the right people,” Lenny said.
He said the family chose to donate to Cape Christian Academy because they consider the school as a friend of the family.
“Harder economic times have affected enrollment and we hope this will bolster that and make up any tuition deficit for a number of students,” Sterling said.
The Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade private school in Court House currently has 82 students.
“We want to give kids the opportunity to return to the school, should they fall on difficult times,” Lenny said.
The donation is designed to help many children, not just one scholarship. The family has committed to continue donations to a fund named in memory of Alan.
Alan’s memory continues through his wife Anna and two daughters Marsiella and Lisa.
Alan was very active with Our Lady of the Angels Church, where he designed and built a prayer garden for quiet meditation. It began as a small project, and then got larger with the addition of statues, Lenny explained.
“It was Alan’s pet project,” he said.
The family invites those interested to investigate Cape Christian Academy, and if in need, know there is some financing available.
“We want his legacy and memory to live on,” Lenny said.
Alan, a graduate of Penn State in 1977, and his wife Anna established a fund at the Mont Alto campus to provide financial support for one student per year to study agriculture.
“The Catanoso family is very generous and they want to give back to the community,” Sterling said. “They have huge hearts.”