Maryann Rich, a lifelong Glen Cover, receives a gift every year on Mother’s Day in the form of a plant, which is always waiting outside her front door. There is never a card or any kind of clue as to whom it’s from, but Rich said she doesn’t need any identifiers. She knows it’s from Pete Prudente, a Glen Cove firefighter who has become a friend of hers.
“All of us try to catch him each year, but we can’t,” said Rich, her blue eyes twinkling. “He is so thoughtful, a wonderful person that always takes care of everyone.” Rich and a group of people that included some Glen Cove firefighters headed to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset last Friday for Organ Donor Day, which included a presentation that in part honored Prudente for another act of generosity. This time the gift was much bigger — a kidney, which he donated to a stranger on March 25, two days after he turned 59.