Laura Brunetti's upbeat attitude is infectious.
Perhaps it's the petite artist's frequent laughter, her
nonstop enthusiasm about every topic, or how intently she
listens, clearly interested, to what others say. Maybe
it's her no-evasions answers to any question asked.
Her positive outlook is as natural to her as her philanthropy,
say those who know the Ocean Township resident — and
her philanthropy is extensive. Brunetti has turned her
artwork and what she calls her "good fortune" into
ways to help others, with much of that charitable work
done in Monmouth County.
"She's one of the most unique human beings I've ever
met," says Chris Guarnieri of Matawan, owner of NRG
Fitness in Tinton Falls, who has known Brunetti for six
years.
"Laura lights up the gym. Everybody is happy to see
her.
"She places the needy and underprivileged ahead of
everything else. Every single day she exists, she changes
someone's life. Everything she does is for the good of
someone else," he says.
"People are attracted to Laura wherever she goes," says
Jackie St. Angel, development director of Collier Services
in Marlboro, where Brunetti is a benefactor. Soon to be
called Collier Youth Services, the nonprofit agency, sponsored
by Sisters of the Good Shepherd, runs housing, educational
and other programs for at-risk and special-needs youths.
"She's an absolute dynamo. Nothing is ever too hard,
too much, impossible. She's very kind-hearted, very generous,
very genuine," adds St. Angel, who has known Brunetti
for eight years.
Brunetti has volunteered for 13 years for the annual Monmouth
Park Charity Ball, a fundraiser for more than 50 causes.
She's paying to send about 25 young girls in the Neptune-Asbury
Service Unit of the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore to
a weekend encampment this summer. She's coordinating an
October golf outing to benefit the social work department
of Monmouth University, West Long Branch.
Once a month, Brunetti — who paints in watercolors
or gouache and creates mixed-media collages — paints
with children at The Valerie Fund Children's Center for
Cancer and Blood Disorders at The Children's Hospital at
Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch. Children in the Youth
With A Purpose program at The Mercy Center in Asbury Park
spend a day at her L'Estrella Studio in Colts Neck, where
they paint, sketch and write poetry. Youths from Collier
now do this too, she says.
Each week, Brunetti, 47, visits Alzheimer's patients at
a nursing home in Eatontown.
"It's absolutely great. Alzheimer's patients often
are left behind because it's hard to engage them, but I
love them," says Brunetti, who
sometimes sings with them.
In honor of a cousin who died of AIDS, she donated about
30 paintings last year to The Center in Asbury Park, which
serves people with HIV/AIDS, to sell as fundraisers. To
help Collier, she's held an art auction, and for the last
two years, chaired Collier's annual fundraising gala.
"She also held a 'Treasure Sale' at her studio. She
rented a truck and went around to people who were willing
to donate furniture and to people who couldn't bring their
items in. She raised more than $3,000," St. Angel
says.
In Florida, where she and her husband, John Brunetti Jr.,
also have a home, she's volunteered for 14 years for The
Marian Center, which serves developmentally disabled children
and adults.
Yet Brunetti remains modest about her volunteerism, pointing
to her husband and her stepdaughter, Courtney, 14.
"My husband is totally behind me, and Courtney is
involved. She's artistic and an excellent worker," she
says.
"Laura's full of surprises," says her husband,
vice president of the Brunetti Organization, a real estate
and property management company based in Old Bridge. "She's
always involved in something new. I think it's very thoughtful
and kind and generous, what she does. She enjoys what she
does very much. Not a lot of people have the opportunity
to pursue what's of interest to them."
She's grateful for that opportunity, she says.
"My father was a printer. I grew up in a blue-collar
family in a little blue-collar house. I thought it was
the greatest thing," says Brunetti, who was raised
in Maywood in Bergen County, adding her family helped others.
"My mother taught swimming at the Y. She volunteered.
My father was charitable in a different way. He would find
someone who needed something and give it to them," Brunetti
says in her throaty voice.
When she was 12, she and her siblings — John and
Paula — held a carnival in a neighbor's backyard
to benefit muscular dystrophy. Being a Girl Scout also
taught her about giving back.
"We (Girl Scouts) did shows and went to senior citizen
homes and sold cookies. I liked that," says the pretty
brunette, who last September helped Collier with a new
program.
Collier opened a transitional home in Keyport for older
teenage girls leaving the foster care system, who must
learn life skills to live on their own, St. Angel says.
"We renovated an older home," St. Angel says. "Laura
helped with the layout. She picked out all the colors based
on her knowledge of feng shui. It's so cheerful and uplifting
now."
Brunetti has studied feng shui, the ancient Chinese art
of balancing energy, which also inspired the colors in
her studio: pale sage walls in a meditation room, blue
and cream in the entrance room. She's also drawn to angels,
their images everywhere in her studio, along with her artwork.
The woman whose active, upbeat personality is so uplifting
admits to having a more private side.
"When I'm around people, I'm very on. When I'm alone,
I'm quiet. I write poetry," says Brunetti, a published
poet. "I am sensitive, but I don't wear it on my sleeve."
Art came into her life late. She took a watercolors course
several years ago, then studied privately at an art school.
"I would say art was a spirit lifter," she says.
Her flowing, loose brush strokes create color-filled images,
some almost sketches with poetry or sayings, others vibrant
flowers or landscapes. Currently, she paints perhaps three
hours a week. Her time is taken up with helping others.
"I believe what you put out is what you get back.
It's rewarding to see people have a smile on their face
or gain something. I'm having a ball helping others," Brunetti
says.
BIO BRIEF: LAURA BRUNETTI
- BORN: New York City.
- RAISED: Maywood.FAMILY: Husband, John
Brunetti Jr.; stepdaughter Courtney, 14.
- EDUCATION:
Associate's degree, behavioral science, Bergen Community
College, Paramus; bachelor's degree, business administration,
Monmouth University, West Long Branch; studied, DuCret
School of Art, Plainfield; certified practitioner,
Western School of Feng Shui.
- PASTIMES: Traveling, antiquing,
flea markets, fitness training, spending time with
family.
- AFFILIATIONS INCLUDE: International Feng Shui
Guild, New Jersey Shore Chapter; Art Alliance of Monmouth
County; Art Society of Monmouth County; Colts Neck
Artists Group; advisory board member, The Shore Institute
for the Contemporary Arts, Long Branch; board member,
Monmouth Museum, Middletown; board member, Re-Run, thoroughbred-adoption
group.
INFO: www.lestrellastudio.atomicshops.com or
e-mail brunettila@aol.com |
