The formula is a breeze to calculate.
Hard work and dedication + great live music, fabulous food, and community support = saving lives one by one in Morgantown.
That’s the equation that’s proven successful since the local tent of the Circus Saints & Sinners joined the Contraguerro family and Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration three years ago to create “Party on the Plaza,” a one-day fundraiser on Market Plaza in downtown Wheeling that benefits WVU Medicine’s 150-bed Children’s Hospital. The private company and the non-profit organization partnered in 2021 to pledge a $150,000, five-year commitment.
“Children’s Hospital in Morgantown is very important to me, to my family, and to our country because we believe that it is a regional benefit to all residents to the state of West Virginia and several other states. That’s because, sooner than later and in a lot of different ways, those residents will need the critical services that are provided by WVU Medicine at this facility,” explained Robert Contraguerro, Jr., vice president of Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration. “By now, we all know a family who has traveled to Morgantown for the miracle they needed for their child.
“Children’s Hospital has touched so many lives across this tri-state area, and that’s just one of a lot of different reasons why we support a terrific event like the Saints & Sinners Party in the Plaza,” he said. “When you see the great work that’s performed inside that hospital, it makes you want to be a part of it in any way possible. We’re a small state so I consider us tremendously luck to have the state-of-the-art facility and the doctors that WVU Medicine has recruited to be here. We’re very luck and that’s why this fundraising effort means so much to us.”
Two Hands and Hard Work
The Circus Saints & Sinners has served the Wheeling area for nearly a century and has raised more than $1 million for local charities. The organization’s all-male membership, for example, has donated its time – and its tips – to bartend during the annual Mountaineer Brewfest each third Saturday in August.
This year will be no different since, on August 19 at Heritage Port, the men will assist with raising thousands of dollars for Family Services of the Ohio Valley.
Contraguerro appreciates the non-profit’s approach.
“We have always been very hands-on when it comes to our company, and that goes back to how my father founded Panhandle when he was the one-man crew,” Contraguerro said with a chuckle. “He was out there doing everything he could do to make a dollar at the beginning, and when I first started with the company, I was there next to him doing what we needed to do to get the job done.
“It may sound like a joke when I say there’s nothing that this company does that I haven’t done myself, but it’s true. That’s how we got started and how we grew to where we are today,” he explained. “Those years have paid off, too, but knowing exactly what it takes to do the work we do makes it easier to operate a company like Panhandle. If you’ve done it yourself, it allows you to appreciate your employees more.”
And the same goes with the annual “Party on the Plaza,” and tickets can be purchased at https://PartyOnThePlaza.org/tickets.
“We like to be hands-on with the events we get involved in, too,” said Contraguerro, the recipient of the 2023 Community Service Ward during WVU Medicine’s annual Children’s Gala. “When Paul came to me to talk about the Party in the Plaza, it’s something we had discussed before because I wanted to do something that would benefit Children’s Hospital. It started out that Panhandle would be the title sponsor, but when we do that as a company, I want to get as involved as I can with recruiting other sponsors and anything else I can do.
“That’s just how we are as a company and as a family and it all comes from my father. He’s the one who has instilled in all of us the importance of our community, and that’s why we work very hard to make ‘Party on the Plaza’ as successful as possible,” he said. “And it certainly helps that it’s a great event that’s supported by our local residents, too.”
