Fourteen

October 16, 2016 – Remembering Maria Stark

"Hello, everyone, my name is Tony Stark and I am above all else an engineer…" Tony started his intro. "Today's a bit of a hard video to make. It is about my mother. Now, my mother was born in Italy as Maria Imprezzini – all her family died for various reasons and she was living as a model when she met my father. I don't know how he wooed her or why she loved him, but she did. And they married. Howard, my father, was a successful businessman, having supplied the US government with weapons galore as Stark Industries. They had a son, me, shortly after getting married and that was that. But she was more than just Howard's wife or even my mother. She used a lot of her time and resources going to charity events, galas and meetings to advocate for a lot of different causes. She particularly like animal rescue organizations, food pantries and advocating for Italian-American representation in art."

He reached down and held up an oil painting.

"This was done for my mother from an Italian-American artist, whose name was lost over the years, but I want that artist to know that my mother did take this, keep it and did not try and sell it. She appreciated the thank you gifts that she received from various people over the years. She always displayed this in our living room in New York and always told me 'Antonio, sii gentile per ottenere gentilezza.' Which means Anthony, be kind to get kindness.

"I perhaps wasn't as kind as I could have been after her death.

"My father arranged for me to go to boarding school the minute I was old enough, but my mother and I spent as much time as we could. She taught me how to make pasta, how to play the piano and how to speak Italian, all things my father despised. He thought cooking was for servants, music was for girls and that I should seem as American as I could and only speak English. Which is predominately what I do, but I always feel closer to my mother whenever I visit Italy and speak with people there. It's beautiful there and the food is so good.

"After my mother died, I started a foundation in her name. The Maria Stark Foundation. I donate a big portion of my own money, Stark Industries' money and hold galas, benefit dinners, etc. for the Foundation. We try and help as many people as we can, as my mother would have liked. She loved local artists, she loved animals and she loved spending time with children. I would like to think that she would have loved to spend time with special needs individuals, such as autistic children, but I think that was something that we have come a long way in. I am not sure in the eighties or even nineties, that we treated those with developmental disabilities in any other way than to throw them in a mental hospital. We have come a long way in providing a long and fulfilling life for those with developmental disabilities.

"The Maria Stark Foundation usually gives grants in the greater New York area, as that was where she lived. We give grants to developmental disability nonprofits, animal shelters, artist communities and children's hospitals. We try to give back to those who truly need it. I am not in charge of the Foundation, but I am on the board and I ensure that all the recipients are not misappropriating the funds. Nothing would make me feel worse than someone who is abusing a child, person with developmental disabilities, an animal or an artist to get extra money. I make sure my AI's get a full report on that person, check everything that they have listed on the grant request and ask for receipts or proof that it went to where it was supposed to. It isn't perfect but it is the best I can do to make sure the Foundation isn't being screwed over.

"Now, let's take a tour of a few places."

Tony picked up the camera and the screen went black.

The camera turned back on.

"Now, we are at Starting Off at The Right Paw, a no kill animal shelter. They have cats and dogs mostly but some other animals that people are no longer able to care for. Let's go in." He opened the door and stepped inside.

"Tony!" A woman greeted warmly.

"Hello, Anastasia. I'm here to show YouTube what you do."

"Oh! Sure!" Anastasia looked in the camera. "I am Anastasia and I run Starting Off at The Right Paw. We are extremely grateful to Tony and his Foundation, for giving us grants and such to keep our doors open."

"It is a pleasure to visit as always." Tony warmly told her from behind the camera. "SOATRP is only one of many animal shelters that we help. We like to help the no-kill shelters as they are the most humane."

"We think Tony likes to visit so much is because of Lucy, who is still here, by the way, Tony."

"She is?" He asked shocked, from behind the camera.

"Let's go see her." Anastasia came from behind the desk and opened the door to the back of the shelter. Tony panned the camera over to the spacious kennels, the dogs wagging their tails and cats not caring one iota. Except for one. Who trilled happily, rolling on her back, showing her belly. Tony made a bee-line right for her. Anastasia opened the cage and picked up the grey and white cat. "Lucy here is about two years old and loves Tony. She was found as a kitten but no one really wanted her."

"Mrow." Lucy meowed pointedly. She lunged from Anastasia's arms to Tony's, the purring evident to the speakers of the camera.

"I think someone loves you." Anastasia said warmly.

"Perhaps we should do a Twitter poll." He stated. "Be right back, y'all." The camera went black and when it picked back up, they were back in the lobby, Lucy being put into a cat carrier with a small sample of food and toys. "Well, Twitter has spoken. Lucy is coming back to the tower. How much do I owe you, Anastasia?"

"Nothing at all. Finding Lucy a home is gift enough."

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

"Okay, YouTube, if you're in the area of a no-kill shelter, please consider donating or adopting from them. They are great and there are a ton of homeless animals in New York and any would love to be your friend. Next, we are onto New Beginnings. After we drop off Lucy at the Tower."

"Hello, everyone. I am here at New Beginnings, a wonderful facility that handles the transition of a student with developmental disabilities into a contributing member of society. There are hundreds of job coaches in this building, that help them complete the duties of their job that they would not be able to do on their own. Let's meet Diane, the Director of this wonderful organization." Tony opened the door and was shown to the Director. "Hi Diane, say hi to YouTube!"

"Hello YouTube!" Diane dutifully crowed happily.

"Tell us about New Beginnings." Tony asked dutifully.

"We are a non-profit charity – we help transition the students who are in Special Education programs in high schools in New York to jobs with the help of job coaches. The staff we have are great and the people that we support love us and that is what gives us the most joy. We count on donations, galas and golf tournaments to help supplement our income, to provide more quality supports to our individuals."

"What did you use the latest grant for?"

"Well, that grant went to our new building. Would you like to see it?" She got to her feet.

"Sure!"

They took a short walk to a new building.

"This is what we call a programmatic space. This is a space where we provide computers, books, crafts for a program we call Day Supports. These are for people who have social issues and cannot work in, say, a grocery store for example. They come here and spend their day in a fulfilling way differently than the vast majority of our individuals."

"And our grant helped pay for this?" Tony asked, amazed.

"Yes. We rely on grants and donations to help us minimize interest costs on a mortgage or loan. The Maria Stark Foundation was the last bit we needed; we didn't even need a loan."

"That is great!"

"Yes, it is! Our individuals love it and our employees are very grateful for it."

"I am so glad. Well, folks, that wraps up our time in New Beginnings – please search their website for ways you can donate money or goods to help these individuals. Thank you for having us." Tony held out his hand.

"Anytime, Tony, anytime."

ScramCat: LUCYYYY Omg what a sweetie! I love this message! Donating right away!

IntellectuallySound: I am really enjoying these videos. Who knew Tony Stark was such a softie.

PeterParker: Lucy is the sweetest!

PeterStan: Omg. Peter, I love you! When are you coming back on?

PeterParkerIsMyHusband: YES when

PeterParker: Uhhh, soon? Your usernames are making me nervous, bye!

PeterParkerIsMyHusband: Peter…Parker…saw my username. I can die happy now.

Feminatzi: Weirdos.