Photographs by William Taufic.
Al’s Angels beneficiary Ethan Takacs, with his brother Brady, on a special day out with Reggie Jackson and the New York Yankees.
“Think of the great memories you have from when you were a kid at your favorite ice cream shop. We wanted to create something like that for this generation of Westport kids,” says Al Diguido, owner of Saugatuck Sweets. An inscription in the store— “Be an angel to a child in need”—underscores that their mission is about more than ice cream. Sweets are a side gig—a way to get to the hearts of patrons and spread the word about kids whose lives aren’t as carefree as many mulling around the candy jars are.
On the night the seed was planted for Al’s Angels, Diguido’s charity, he just wanted some football players’ autographs. “A friend invited me to an event in New Jersey. He told me a bunch of Giants’ players would be there, and I’m a big fan,” he explains. The friend had no more details about the event.
When a seven-year-old who was dying of cancer and her mom were called up on stage that evening, Diguido was shocked. “The mother said their family had been wiped out by medical bills. The money being raised would help them buy food and Christmas gifts. More parents stood up with similar stories. I looked at my friend and got indignant. I asked, ‘How is it that in the United States of America, parents with kids dying of cancer are having to beg for money from strangers?’ I drove home in the pouring rain, thinking of my healthy kids, and trembling as I thought, What if it were me? I woke my wife at 1:30 in the morning and said, ‘We need to do something. We need to help these families and kids.’”
Starting with Trivial Pursuit parties in their garage, the Diguidos began raising funds for the charity in New Jersey. Five years later, Diguido formed Al’s Angels. “We started by identifying forty families that needed help,” he recalls. “We made a commitment to add one family each year.”
Last year Al’s Angels helped 3,200 families and over 6,000 kids—making sure they had holiday meals, gifts and a visit from Santa Claus (aka Al Diguido). “I’m not a golfer or a tennis player. Any free time I have, I pursue my passion, this mission: battling cancer and rare blood diseases. Cancer is a despicable foe, victimizing young kids,” he says. “We want them to know there is a legion of angels behind them.”
“Al is truly an angel to all the lives he has touched here at St. Vincent’s Medical Center,” comments Barbara Giannettino. “Through the generosity of Al and his Angels, our patients have been provided with Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets and candy baskets at Easter time. As Santa at our Christmas party, Al takes the time to talk to each child and make them feel very special.”
Diguido recently led the effort to raise nearly $6,000 for a van for Ethan Takacs, a Fairfield boy born with spinal muscular atrophy. Without it, Ethan would have been housebound and that was not an acceptable conclusion for Al and his Angels.
Diguido, a twenty-five-year Westport resident who ran Zeta Interactive and is building another marketing agency, learned his work ethic growing up in Brooklyn—as one of seven. His dad, a New York police officer, told him, “If you want to go to college, you have to start working.” He did. At age thirteen.
Diguido will work tirelessly to light up a life—or even a town. The Christmas lights on the Saugatuck bridge were Al’s idea. Inspired by the lights on the bridge in It’s a Wonderful Life, he proposed to the town that he would like to wrap the lookalike bridge in lights. “The lights are a symbol of joy and hope and life.” They also highlight the “greatest lesson” Diguido can share: “Understand how blessed you are to have healthy children.”