Toll Gate senior remembers her mentor with fundraiser

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 10/8/15

After her good friend David Cunha died unexpectedly in January, Julie Poulios knew she wanted to do something in his memory for her senior project.

A senior at Toll Gate High School, Julie grew up …

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Toll Gate senior remembers her mentor with fundraiser

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After her good friend David Cunha died unexpectedly in January, Julie Poulios knew she wanted to do something in his memory for her senior project.

A senior at Toll Gate High School, Julie grew up with David, the son of her godmother, Cheryl Cunha. They were very active in community service, often volunteering with Save the Bay and the Providence Back to School Celebration.

“He was a great friend and mentor,” Julie said.

Born with a heart defect, David underwent multiple open-heart surgeries and even had a pacemaker at the age of 5. Despite this, David, a graduate of Smithfield High School, spent his time volunteering and helping others. In January he passed away in his sleep at the age of 21; he would have graduated from Rhode Island College this year.

His parents Cheryl and Peter Cunha immediately established the David Louis Cunha Foundation, which will establish two scholarships for outstanding community service for Smithfield High School, and another to benefit Rhode Island children attending a camp for youth with pacemakers in the Berkshires.

The foundation will also make a donation to A Wish Come True to help one child take a trip to Disney World; David received a wish when he was younger.

He was always active in community service and we wanted to do something in his name to continue that legacy, Cheryl said. “David was always smiling, so we wanted to make sure we could put smiles on peoples’ faces. He would have wanted that.”

Julie decided she wanted to benefit the foundation and began organizing a fundraising team for a walk that would be held at Smithfield High School, but in late August she found out that the walk had fallen through and wouldn’t happen at all.

She essentially had a little more than three weeks to completely re-imagine, promote and hold her entire project.

On Sept. 27, what would have been the day of the walk, Julie held her fundraiser, Dave’s Funday Sunday Football, at the Thirsty Beaver in Cranston.

In the end, the event was more meaningful for both Julie and Cheryl because of one game of football. David and Julie’s father, both avid football fans, always watched the first game together where their opposing teams, the Rams and Steelers, played one another, which was that Sunday.

With 125 guests, a 50/50, a buffet, and raffles, Julie was able to raise $2,000 for the David Louis Cunha Foundation.

“This was a way for me to give back to his memory,” Julie said. “I knew I wanted to do a community service project. It feels really good to know the money we raised will go towards making someone happy.”

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