Michael Perna’s (1940-2020) family migrated to Corona, Queens, beginning with his grandfather, also named Michael Perna, in the 1920s. Grandpa Perna was a concrete and mason worker who taught Michael from a very young age. As his grandfather’s protégé, he learned both how to work with his hands and how to give back to the community. Community members with limited means knew they could rely on him to fix and repair anything, and he was always a willing and dependable source of relief for many. Michael’s mother brought him to church regularly, as she was president of the Saint Ann’s Rosary Society. This opened the doors for him to address the crucial needs in the church as well. Some of his extensive involvement and dedicated work included helping to build and provide regular maintenance at the local church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, organizing volunteers to plan and prepare community events such as the Annual Mount Carmel Feast. He maintained his grandfather’s garden on 111th and 52nd to help the families in the community that were in need and during the Vietnam war he advocated for the many military troops from Corona by collecting monthly donations from community members, in order to prepare care packages that he shipped to those stationed abroad. He was an inspiring and a beacon of hope to people near and far.