Vittorios Owners Mercedes and Vanessa Pelligrini Donate to “Happy Trails”
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
’Tis the season for giving, and Mercedes Pelligrini and her daughter Vanessa like to get into the spirit.
Owners of Vittorio Ristorante & Pizzeria, the family-friendly Italian restaurant known for its garlic rolls and pizzas, the Pelligrinis have tutored for School on Wheels in the past and, for the last three years, have donated to Happy Trails for Kids, an organization founded by Palisadian Pepper Edmiston.
Vittorios, located at 16646 Marquez Ave., has been in the neighborhood since 1984, and Mercedes has owned it since 1990. Vanessa is now part owner and although they both live in the San Fernando Valley (Mercedes in Calabasas; Vanessa in Woodland Hills), they feel a special connection to the Palisades community.
“We started this event in December 2010,” Vanessa said. “It was the same year I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with brain involvement. Being a very spiritual and religious woman, my mother prayed to a Brazilian saint named Our Lady Aparecida (Our Lady Revealed). She is the patron saint of Brazil, and it’s been said that she performs miracles.”
Vanessa explained that she and her mother made a promise to do something for underprivileged children if she lived through the disease.
“Here we are 10 years later,” she said. “We have gifted over 2,000 kids in the last 10 years. Up until this year, we’d bus them in from the inner cities, feed them all the pizza, pasta and garlic rolls they could eat, and Santa would gift each child three presents for Christmas.”
This year, due to COVID-19, Vittorios is doing a virtual party for nearly 200 Happy Trails campers at the Carson Community Center this Sunday, December 6, so Santa can deliver his gifts safely while the children and caregivers are in their cars. There will be a box luncheon this year, and a mask and socks giveaway as well.
“All of our gifts are donated, and whatever toys we don’t have get donated we go out and purchase ourselves,” Vanessa added. “We wrap every gift at the restaurant with a team of dedicated elves, and these amazing individuals have been doing this since we started.”
Vanessa shared that they will be gifting to 188 kids this year.
“Each child will receive a pair of socks, a facemask, a winter backpack, a box lunch from Pinky’s Hot Box (donated by the Sons of the American Legion) and gifts from Santa,” she explained. “We are also raffling off three Christmas trees, also donated by the Sons of the American Legion.”
Edmiston, a longtime Vittorios customer, reached out to the Pelligrinis several years ago to see if they could team up with her, and Vanessa called the partnership “an amazing experience.”
Based in Santa Monica, Happy Trails for Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing overnight summer camps and other year-round outdoor adventures for youth in the Southern California foster care system.
Also this weekend, Happy Trails is gearing up for its 10th annual Hike-A-Thon—which will take place virtually in 2020. The weekend-long event kicks off Friday, December 4, at 7 p.m. with a “Holiday Hoedown” Campfire Concert/Variety Show, concluding on Sunday with the Vittorios drive-through followed by a closing ceremony.
“Vittorios and our clients, as well as other Pacific Palisades clubs and organizations, fulfill Wish List items from the kids,” Vanessa said. “It’s quite an undertaking. This is a true Christmas story in which a good portion of Palisadians participate. It takes a village, and we are so blessed and grateful to be part of the Palisades village.”
For more information on Happy Trails for Kids or to make a donation, visit happytrailsforkids.org or text “HIKE4KIDS” to 71777 to give.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information about the 10th annual Hike-A-Thon.
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