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Elmsford Irrigation Entrepreneur Bernardo Luciano Wants to Feed People in Need

If you want to volunteer and help distribute meals or if you know of residents, local non profits that would benefit from the meals please contact Greenburgh Supervisors office   914-989-1540

GREENBURGH, NY_   Central Turf & Irrigation Supply, headquartered in Elmsford, is a family business owned and operated by Bernardo Luciano. His daughter Camilla Sorvillo approached the Town Supervisor’s office recently about a vision her father has of serving up to 1,000 meals this Thanksgiving day to Greenburgh residents most in need. He and his company do various large-scale philanthropic acts several times a year, but distributing warm Thanksgiving meals is something he would now like to make an ongoing tradition. The Greenburgh  Neighborhood Health Center will generously open their space on Knollwood Road to this large event on Thanksgiving day.

The Greenburgh Health Center, a site of the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that offers high quality primary, preventive, and affordable health care and support services in an atmosphere of humane care, dignity and respect to improve the health and lives of adults, teens, and children in Westchester County and the Bronx.

Bernardo Luciano emigrated by himself to the US from Italy in 1970 at the age of 15. Once here, Bernardo began working in restaurants, supermarkets, and drove a taxi at night before landing a job as a landscape contractor. That started his lifelong career in the Green Industry. During his first few years on the job, he became intrigued by irrigation and its ability to create beautiful landscapes. Embracing his inner entrepreneur, Bernardo was determined to get into the irrigation business. And, he did just that. Bernardo left his job with the landscaping company and went to work for an irrigation contractor. After a few years as an employee, he became a partner in the business. Five years after that, he was ready to go out on his own, starting his own successful irrigation contracting business in Elmsford.

After selling his business in 1995, Bernardo purchased Central Irrigation Supply. With the help of his devoted wife Filomena, daughter Camilla, and son Anthony, Bernardo grew Central from one location in Connecticut to the largest family-owned and operated landscape supply company in North America—with more than 58 locations throughout the US and Canada and with 300 employees. The headquarters has been in Elmsford since around 2002. 

The Luciano family has lived here in Elmsford since 1985. Though Bernardo and his wife recently moved to Connecticut, he still considers this home-base and wants to give back to the community and greater Greenburgh in general for the opportunities given to him here. 

One-thousand warm Thanksgiving dinners – ordered from local fine grocer and another family business DeCicco & Sons – will be served by volunteers including members of Central Turf & Irrigation along with John DeCicco Sr. at the Greenburgh Health Center on 295 Knollwood Road Thursday November 24 from 11:30-1:30 pm. 

We are attempting to track how many meals are needed as closely ahead of time as possible by handing out red ticket stubs to those attending. We ask for the assistance of local groups who serve the needy, like churches and shelters, to let us know how many meals you might need for your community. With advance notice, the meals can be packaged for take-out to distribute at your own location, or you can help hand out a batch of tickets to your community to come eat at the GHC in person at staggered time slots of 11:30 am, 12 noon, 12:30 pm and 1:00 pm. 

Please contact Krista Madsen in Supervisor Paul Feiner’s Office for more information and to reserve tickets for your group at kmadsen@greenburghny.com or 914.989.1540. We also invite local youth groups to create Thanksgiving decorations to make the dining space welcoming and festive.  We want to make sure that we are giving the meals to only those who are most deserving.

We are grateful for your assistance in helping us get these meals to the right people who need them most, and especially to the Lucianos, DeCiccos and everyone at the Greenburgh Health Center for making this event possible.

 Paul Feiner

Greenburgh Town Supervisor