Why This Is So Personal to Me
Message From Rob Mannino, COO at The Kulka Group
I’ve known Fortuna for more than 25 years.
Fortuna and her family grew up alongside my family in Hauppauge, and both Devin and I have known the family for many years. For me, that connection is especially personal. Our families have grown up together, and Fortuna is not simply someone we selected to honor this year. She is a close friend, and in many ways, she is family.
Fortuna is the person who keeps everyone connected, organizes everything behind the scenes, and is always there to help. She has spent years quietly showing up for everyone around her.
Now, it is our turn to show up for her.
When Fortuna received her diagnosis, it affected all of us who know and care about her. Watching a close friend and mother face something this difficult makes this year’s mission incredibly personal.
Kulka Fights Cancer has always meant a great deal to me, but this year feels different because we are honoring someone who has been part of my life, my family’s life, and the Hauppauge community for decades.
That is why I am reaching out personally.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch Fortuna’s story. If it moves you the way it moved me, I hope you’ll consider standing beside us in this fight. Your support would mean so much to Fortuna and her family, and it would remind them that the community they have always supported is now standing right beside them.
Thank you for taking the time to be part of this with us.
- Rob Mannino
Watch Fortuna's Story
Fortuna & Family
What she fights for
Fortuna is more than a cancer diagnosis.
She is a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, and the kind of person who has spent her life showing up for everyone around her.
She has been married to Javy for 18 years. Together, they are raising two boys, 12 year old Matteo, who loves soccer, and 16 year old Nico, who plays basketball. She is also deeply connected to her brothers, Sebe and Gennaro, and to the family and community that have surrounded her throughout her life.
On May 18, 2025, Fortuna was diagnosed with Grade 4 glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer.
It was the kind of diagnosis that would stop most people in their tracks.
Fortuna isn't most people.
She is a fighter.
She is surrounded by a family that refuses to let her face this alone, and by a community that is ready to stand beside her every step of the way.
The treatment options available to her in the United States have not provided the answers her family is searching for. She is now pursuing clinical trials outside the country that have shown promising results, but those treatments are not covered by traditional insurance.
That is where all of us come in.
Fortuna needs our help, and we are going to give it to her.
Through all of this, she has remained focused not only on winning her own battle, but on what she will do for others when she does.
During her journey, Fortuna has searched for someone who has already walked this road. Someone who could answer the difficult questions, offer guidance, and provide the kind of strength that only a survivor can give.
She has not been able to find that person.
So we are going to help her become that person.
We are going to help Fortuna reach the treatments, resources, and opportunities she needs to keep fighting. We are going to stand behind her, lift her up, and remind her every day that this battle does not belong to her alone.
One day, someone else will receive a diagnosis like hers and search for a survivor who understands.
They are going to find Fortuna.
She will be the voice that tells them not to give up. She will be the guide who helps them find answers. She will be living proof that even the hardest battles can be won.
This is not where Fortuna’s story ends.
This is the chapter where her family, her friends, and her entire community rise with her.
Together, we are going to help Fortuna win this fight and become the person she has been searching for.
"It was the kind of diagnosis that would stop most people in their tracks.
Fortuna isn't most people.
She is a fighter."
