Holly Cataldo was a fighter. When diagnosed with aplastic anemia aplastic anemia: (ay-PLASS-tik uh-NEE_mee-uh) A rare and serious condition in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The term aplastic is a Greek word meaning not to form. Anemia is a condition that happens when red blood cell count is low. Most… in 1999, the first words out of her mouth were that she was going to beat the disease. After all, she had battled epilepsy since the age of thirteen and it had not slowed her down. Unfortunately, Holly died later that year after undergoing what seemed to be a successful bone-marrow transplant - the marrow coming from her brother, Joe. She was only 25 years old.
Holly’s family did not want her death to be in vain so they established the Holly Cataldo Research Fund with AA&MDSIF. As a child, Holly loved to go to car cruises (street fairs with antique cars on display) with her father, Joseph. Holly decided to raise money to support research by creating her own car cruise.
After Holly died, her sister, Christina Beranek and her family decided to continue the event to raise money for the research fund. For more than a decade, the annual Labor Day event held in Jeannette, PA raised awareness and funds for research in Holly’s memory. The “Caring Car Cruise” featured music, a magic show, a Chinese auction and of course, great cars.
“As Holly was fighting this disease she had said that when, not if, she was better she wanted to do something to help others who were suffering from the disease. This is our way of fulfilling one of her last wishes, and also aiding in the fight against aplastic anemia -- hoping to stop the future suffering of those diagnosed, and even the friends and family helping their loved ones fight this disease,” Christina Berenak, Holly’s sister.