Thursday, May 14, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘Alla familia’: Ben Cirella’s family’s restaurants spread the love

Two weeks ago, Ben Cirella 
pulled his silver Volvo up to the 
entrance of Elmhurst Hospital in 
Queens, N.Y.
Elmhurst has been at the 
epicenter of New York City’s 
disastrous COVID-19 outbreak. 
Queens has 56,719 confirmed 
cases of coronavirus, the most 
of any city borough, and has 
recorded nearly 6,000 deaths. 
After 
being 
overrun 
by 
a 
ballooning 
number 
of 
cases 
and facing ill-timed equipment 
shortages, the hospital was forced 
to expand its Intensive Care Unit 
capacity by 500 percent back in 
April.
Alongside his brother, Brad, 
and 
sister, 
Alex, 
the 
junior 
defenseman stepped out of the 
car, put on proper personal 
protective equipment and made 
his way over to the hospital’s 
doors. In their hands, the Cirella 
children held trays containing 
a smorgasbord of fine Italian 
cooking 
from 
their 
family 
restaurants’ kitchens — a gift of 
gratitude to the essential medical 
personnel 
who 
have 
worked 
tirelessly to care for COVID-19 
patients.
The Cirella family owns three 
restaurants in the Long Island 
area, and like many restaurant 
owners, 
the 
Cirella 
family 
have been offering takeout and 
delivery for customers ever since 
the pandemic forced them to 
close their restaurants’ doors to 
in-person dining. 
But Dean Cirella, Ben’s father, 
has decided to take things a step 
further, enlisting his children 
and workers to cook and deliver 
catering platters to hospitals 
that have been overwhelmed by 
COVID-19. So far, Ben and his 
siblings have delivered food to 
seven hospitals in the New York-
Long Island area. Dean even 
offers a joint-venture initiative 
to his regular customers; if they 
want to donate food to a local 
hospital, the Cirella’s will cover 
half of the bill and deliver it for 
free.
For Ben, his family’s effort 
is simply them doing their part 
— the only way they know how, 
with food and kindness — to 
help mitigate the stress of the 
pandemic.
“I don’t do enough,” Ben said. 
“I’m an essential worker and 

‘hero’ because I’m delivering 
food but that’s nothing. It’s not 
hard compared to what these 
nurses and doctors are doing, so 
that’s why I love giving back to 
them and seeing their smiles. It 
makes my day and hopefully it 
makes their day.”
Community service has never 
been a chore for Ben. In fact, he 
has always thoroughly enjoyed it.
This past year, the Michigan 
men’s lacrosse team logged the 
most community service hours of 
any varsity sport. Every Monday 
night, the team went up to the VA 
Hospital in Ann Arbor and played 
bingo 
with 
veterans. 
Every 
Tuesday night, the team visited 
Mott’s Children’s Hospital and 
spent time with patients and 
their families.
And every time, Ben was there.
Like other Michigan student 
athletes, Ben spent the past 
month-and-a-half wrapping up 
his classes online, completing 
at-home workouts and searching 
for an internship. But when Ben 
returned home in March, despite 
an already hectic schedule, he 
made sure to find time to help 
out at the restaurants. Even if it 
meant listening to team Zoom 
meetings while simultaneously 
delivering orders, Ben knew he 
owed it to his dad to lend a hand.
Running 
and 
building 
a 
successful, 
multi-generational 
and multi-restaurant business 
did not come without long days 
and nights filled with hard work 
and sacrifice. 
Summers were the busiest time 
of the year for the restaurants, 
particularly 
Surf’s 
Out, 
a 
restaurant in Fire Island, and 
Dean almost always had to be at 
one of the restaurants. Yet with 
Ben as a highly-touted recruit, 
his summers were jam-packed 
with lacrosse tournaments, so 
it was nearly impossible for 
Dean to find time to drive him 
to tournaments and watch his 
games. Ben’s mother, Caryn, also 
worked at the restaurants, but 
navigated her busy schedule to 
make sure her son could attend 
all of his games.
“It means a lot (to me to give 
back),” Ben said. “My dad is the 
hardest worker I know. There’s 
a lot of businesses struggling 
right now and my dad is doing 
everything he can to keep our 
restaurants afloat. To give back to 
him, it just means everything. He 
would do anything for anybody 

without asking for anything in 
return. … I’m willing to jump on 
it as quickly as I can and help out 
any way I can.
“I think it’s like an extra 
workout — (something like) 
working on Fire Island as a 
barback and carrying all that 
ice.”
Ever since Ben was six years 
old, he has helped out in some 
form at the Cirella’s restaurants. 
It was where we grew up. When 
he was little, Ben went from 
table to table and took pictures 
of customers on holidays like 
Valentine’s Day and Mother’s 
Day. On Christmas Eve, Dean 
dressed himself up as Santa Claus 
and the kids as Santa’s elves. 
When Ben was older, he spent his 
summers at Surf’s Out working as 
a barback or busboy. 
“We didn’t have a beach house 
growing up and that was fine 
because (Surf’s Out) was our 
beach house,” Ben said. “We 
would go out there, hang out 
at the beach all day and then 
go work at night. (My friends) 
always beg me to this day to come 
to Fire Island and hang out at the 
restaurant and beach.”
And after a childhood of 
experiences in restaurants, Ben 
wants to enter the restaurant 
business, just like his father and 
grandfather.
“I just kept the restaurant in my 
blood,” Ben said. “(The business) 
has been around for 30-plus years 
and we still continue to make 
customers 
happy 
with 
every 
order...That’s what I want. I want 
to continue to spread and grow 
the family and happiness.”
“As has been the case for 
nearly 60 years,” reads Cirella’s 
website, “we’re sure that once 
you experience the authentic 
Italian flavor of Cirella’s — for 
lunch or dinner — you’ll become 
‘alla familia’…one of the family.”
In a period of such fear and 
uncertainty, the Cirella’s have 
made a deliberate effort to take 
care of one another.
“It’s cool being with my family 
through this all,” Ben said. “Since 
we’re all together, it definitely 
takes a load off the shoulders a 
little bit. It’s nice when I’m doing 
these long deliveries that I can 
look over and see my brother in 
the car next to me helping out.”
But more importantly, to the 
Cirella’s, to be ‘alla familia’ 
extends beyond the immediate 
family. Frontline workers and 

loyal customers are also ‘one of 
the family’ and equally deserving 
of care in their eyes. And just as 
the Cirella’s have made the effort 
to help others, their customers 
have 
returned 
the 
favor 
by 
consistently ordering food.
“During this time, it proves 
what family we really have,” 
Ben said. “Just like we’re trying 
to support hospitals and our 
neighborhood, they’re supporting 
us by ordering dinner and giving 
us business. And they’re really 

helping us out by doing that. 
Some families order two or three 
times in a week. They’re really 
supportive.”
The 
COVID-19 
pandemic 
has shown the importance of 
family and community in the 
face of dire circumstances. As a 
country, we are all ‘alla familia’ 
to one another. And the Cirella’s 
represent a marquis example of 
what it looks like to both offer 
and welcome kindness in a time 
when it is desperately needed.

DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN CIRELLA
Junior defenseman Ben Cirella (right) and brother Brad (left) dropping off food

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN CIRELLA 
Junior defenseman Ben Cirella handing off food to a health care worker.

10 Sports

