WEST HAVEN — Sometimes you don’t know just how many friends you have until you really need them.
Stacy Matthews Riccio, a lifelong Westie, has a lot of friends — and they’re all coming out to the Cielo banquet hall at the West Haven Italian-American Club, 85 Chase Lane, Sunday to show how much they care about her as she continues to fight the battle of her life against Stage 3 breast cancer.
While it’s too soon to know exactly how many people will pay the suggested donation of $25 to come, it’s likely to be well into the hundreds if the outpouring of love and support is any indication, as her daughter, Angela Franco, and friends drum up support via social media.
So far, friends and local businesses have donated 80 — yes, 80 — gift baskets to be raffled off, along with a host of other items.
Restaurants and individuals all over town have donated tray after tray after tray of food to feed the hungry masses. People and businesses all over town have been taking donations and selling bracelets to support the cause and money has already begun to roll in to an online fund set up for Riccio at paypal.me/StacyRiccioFund .
One West Haven business owner, John “Johnny Z” Ziada of Z’s Corner Cafe — a lifelong friend of Riccio who went to grammar school with her, in addition to being an experienced commercial caterer — has volunteered to coordinate everything in the kitchen.
The event, featuring food, music, raffle prizes and a 50/50 raffle, will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Riccio, 52, a local real estate agent who until December was the 4th District City Council representative, and who previously worked in the Mayor’s Office and the Corporation Counsel’s office in City Hall, is flabbergasted by the outpouring of support.
She’s not the kind of person who usually would ask for help, although she’s grateful for it.
“I’ve always been a very independent person. I’ve always done everything myself,” said Riccio, who also has multiple sclerosis and eventually will need a knee replacement. “But the stuff I used to do, I just can’t do anymore,” she said.
“There’s so many people involved. I’m so overwhelmed,” said Riccio, the ex-wife of former councilman and GOP mayoral candidate David Riccio. “All the generosity and all the gift baskets that they’re putting together. It kind of made me feel like people are really, genuinely caring about me.
“It’s really overwhelming,” she said.
Riccio, a single mother — and now, grandmother — said since being diagnosed Nov. 9 with Stage 3A invasive lobular carcinoma breast cancer, which means it has spread to her lymph nodes, “I just went from being so on-the-go, nonstop, every day, to really just being down for the count.”
After having surgery and spending a few days in the hospital for cancer surgery and reconstructive surgery, she ended up back in the hospital earlier this month after contracting an infection related to the reconstruction. She’s getting ready for 20 weeks of chemotherapy, which will be followed by six to 10 weeks of radiation therapy.
While she has good insurance, it will be some time — possibly up to two years — before she’s able to work again.
That’s where the benefit and help from all of her friends and the community at-large come in.
“You don’t know how much I love everybody for what they’re doing for me,” Riccio said.
She, in turn, has a message she wants to pass on.
“I want people, or women — and men, too — to really pay attention to their bodies,” Riccio said. “It only takes a few minutes. That’s how I found it — I found the lump, I found it myself.”
At the center of the benefit organizing effort is Riccio’s oldest daughter, Angela Franco, 31, who has suddenly turned into a social media dynamo dedicated to drumming up interest for her mother’s cause.
“She’s really a good kid,” and “she’s so worried about me,” Riccio said.
Riccio “has a lot of friends,” said Franco, the daughter of Riccio and her first husband, Anthony Franco. “I just can’t believe the response that I’ve had. So many people have offered all types of stuff.”
That’s good, because despite the family’s hard work, “We’re going to need some kind of assistance for at least a few months,” said Franco, who was raised in West Haven but now lives in East Haven.
Riccio also has two grown children from her marriage with David Riccio, twins David and Rachel Riccio, both 26.
Franco said she feels good about the way the benefit, which will be “kid friendly,” appears to be shaping up.
“I feel as though we’ll probably get a great turnout,” she said, “for sure!”
Riccio said she will be at the benefit but might not be able to stay for the whole thing. She also said that, because she’s about to start chemotherapy and can’t afford to get sick, “I don’t plan on hugging or kissing anybody — and I feel bad about it.”
mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com