Dr. Jeffrey DeMartino ’84 broke his jaw as a student participating in Notre Dame’s Bengal Bouts. After graduation he went on to become a dentist and has continued his interest in boxing, working with professional boxers to develop safer mouth guards. The New Jersey dentist has invented a new mouth guard that allows any athlete using it to breathe through the device without opening his mouth. Profits from sales of the mouth guard, called the Bengal Bite, are donated to Holy Cross missions in Bangladesh.
Dick Van Mele ’56 has developed a “one stop human services center” for the homeless in Vero Beach, Florida. Recently, he negotiated a 30-year lease (at $1 per year) for a 4,600 square foot warehouse, which is being converted into a homeless agency, Homeless Assistance Center of Indian River County, Inc. Services include referral help for abused women and for people suffering addictions.
Dr. Angelo Capozzi ’56, this year’s recipient of the alumni association’s Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Service, is a co-founder of Rotoplast, an international service organization that performs reconstructive facial surgeries in Third World countries in cooperation with Rotary International.