Like any complex system with multiple moving parts, FMi works best when all its components work right. Ever since founder Peter L. Macaluso set his new enterprise sailing three decades ago, that’s meant more than researching and employing the smartest retirement strategies – it’s meant keeping FMi’s heart as strong as its brains.
Keeping the spirit of its founder in mind, FMi has always been generous in support of numerous good causes. Each holiday season, in lieu of office gifts, employees donate funds and dedicate them to various charities.
The company is also a loyal long-term supporter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a leading national force in the fight against leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. FMi’s president, Eric Macaluso, has sat on the board for three years and has helped the LLS raise over 200k. The cause is especially poignant for Peter L.’s sons, Peter H. and Eric, FMi’s Vice President and President: Their dad passed away in 2004 after a tough leukemia battle.
So it was with mixed emotions – and a firm grasp of the comical – that FMi, as it does each year, sent two intrepid volunteers to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 24th annual Gello Slide, held in June at the Hilton Long Island hotel in Melville. The event sends volunteers from outside companies sliding into enormous vats of a frozen gelatin-based dessert substance – watch the trademarks, please – to raise funds for society efforts.
This year’s FMi dunk-ees were Pension Administrator Patty Maguire and Senior Pension Administrator Anthony Milano, along with his daughter, Alexandra. The joyful jumpers completed several gello slides to help FMi raise $500 of the $50,000 generated by the June 18 event.
“They picked us a week prior to the event,” Patty said, noting last year’s FMi slider was Peter H. “We send different people every year, and it was our turn.”
Anthony was happy to do his part, donning a T-shirt and bathing suit and making two plunges into the cherry-flavored depths. “It was cold in there,” he noted. “Very, very cold.”
Even happier was Alexandra, 8, who completed at least 10 slides for the cause, according to her dad. “She loved it,” Anthony said. “She really thought it was cool.”
Anthony was sure to keep his mouth tightly closed each time he landed in the giant vat (“I did not want to eat any.”) And despite the deep freeze and some general stickiness, he said braving the slide to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was “totally, 100-percent worth it.”
Patty agreed, adding, “I love that FMi is involved with this event – not only is it a unique and memorable experience, but it is even better being part of a company that is community-minded and socially aware.”
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