Aceto holds movie night to benefit Special Olympics

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 2/8/17

By PETE FONTAINE Matthew Aceto won't be in Hollywood when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents its coveted Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, but he recently staged a unique production that speaks volumes about his character and future. Back

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Aceto holds movie night to benefit Special Olympics

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Matthew Aceto won’t be in Hollywood when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents its coveted Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, but he recently staged a unique production that speaks volumes about his character and future.

Back on Saturday evening, Jan. 28, Aceto held a movie night at Immaculate Conception Regional Catholic School in Cranston for children in grades three through five and the event – Aceto’s first in the movie industry – was such a smashing success it raised upwards of $400 for Special Olympics Rhode Island.

“The movie was entitled Nine Lives,” explained Carol McPhillips, an advisor for IC’s National Junior Honor Society. “But it had no ties to Special Olympics. It was just something special Matthew wanted to do as his charitable service project for our school.”

And Aceto, IC’s popular principal Andrea Spaziante wanted it known, “is only a seventh grader here at Immaculate Conception Regional Catholic School.”

As equally impressive, as Spaziante emphasized last Friday morning, “Matthew is a member of our school’s National Junior Honor Society.”

So, armed with a white envelope that contained a check made payable to Special Olympics Rhode Island, Aceto presented the envelope to Dennis DeJesus, SORI’s highly-respected CEO/President during a special NJHS assembly last Friday morning.

“We are all proud of Matthew for his efforts,” Spaziante said. “This was certainly an extraordinary event made possible by an outstanding student here at IC.”

Carol McPhillips and Sara Myers, faculty members at IC who serve as advisors for the school’s National Junior Honor Society, said “today is certainly heart-warming for Matthew and our school.”

DeJesus, a Cranston native who had led SORI to unmatched heights during his tenure, said, “I am so impressed with Matthew’s maturity level for: 1.) selecting Special Olympics for his project and then 2.) pulling off a successful movie night. It’s a tribute to him, his family and the school community in rallying around the great athletes of Special Olympics Rhode Island for this fund-raising effort.”

Matthew is the son of Emilio and Valerie Aceto, who live in Coventry.

When asked why he selected SORI to be the beneficiary of his Jan. 28 Service Project Movie Night, the soft-spoken seventh grader replied, “I chose Special Olympics because I want to help people who can’t help themselves and also so they can be respected.”

While Myers is a resource teacher for students in grades 3-8 at IC, McPhillips is a teacher assistant for children in grades 3-5. They both serve as advisors for IC’s NJHS.

“We want to offer special thanks to the Aceto family, the entire faculty and staff here at IC and NJHS members Caitlin Brown and Kyle Thompson for all their help and support. We are extremely proud of all our students who work on a variety of service projects throughout the year.”

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