Kate’s Corner: Badge on or off, Sorrentino Serves the Community

Helping others comes naturally to Anthony Sorrentino. When the full time Winthrop Police Officer isn’t busy protecting the lives of others, he dedicates time to raising money for those in need.

Sorrentino’s desire to help came when someone close to him passed away from breast cancer in 2018. On a mission to honor his loved one, he designed a pink shirt that had a police badge on the front and “Winthrop Police Serving for a Cure,” on the back. It didn’t take long for Sorrentino to see what can happen when a community comes together to support a cause, and he soon sold 450 shirts and raised $5,000, which he donated to Survivors by the Sea and the Marie Petrilli Memorial Foundation, both which support cancer patients and their families.

When Sorrentino heard the news that resident Josh Cohen’s cancer came back, he immediately started collecting money to donate to the family. Around the same time, he learned about Ethan Harty,  another young boy struggling to beat cancer. Sorrentino decided that he needed to do something bigger, so he came up with a charity basketball game, with the police and fire department. Like his previous fundraising ventures, the game was a success, raising over $9,000 in only a few weeks.

When asked how he got involved in fundraising, Sorrentino’s answer is simple.

“I love coming together as a community and showing the people of this town that we have their back and let them know we are always thinking of them.”

Like most people who love to help others, Sorrentino does it for the pure joy of bringing happiness to others.

“I will never forget seeing the smiles on the faces of Ethan and Josh’s brother, Alex. I cannot get their smiles out of my mind, which causes me to smile. I think the best part of the game was at the end when it was almost over. We brought out Ethan to shoot a free throw and one of the fire fighters picked him up to help him. When he hit the shot the whole gym went nuts yelling and cheering for him.  We then brought out Alex and let him hit a layup and once again everyone cheered for him. I don’t think the game could have ended on a better note.”