- December 5, 2025
Travis Mills, founder of the Travis Mills Foundation, at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert. Courtesy of Frank Petruno
The Lori Fund held a benefit concert on Sept. 20 at the Daytona State College Amphitheater in Palm Coast. Courtesy of Frank Petruno
Local singer Ashley Estevez at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert. Courtesy of Frank Petruno
Cooper Alan, an upcoming country singer on tour, performs at the Lori Fund fundraiser concert. Courtesy of Frank Petruno
The Lori Fund’s sixth annual benefit fundraiser for military families and charities was an “overwhelming success,” founder Frank Petruno said.
The benefit concert was held on Sept. 20 at the Daytona State College Amphitheater in Palm Coast. Petruno said he doesn’t have the final numbers yet, but estimates the concert raised north of $125,000 by itself. The concert sold 540 tickets, he said.
The Lori Fund will make its distributions in December, where a number of charities will receive donations. As in previous years, those will include some local charities, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the Travis Mills Foundation, Gratitude America and several others, Petruno said.
The headliner performance was Cooper Alan, an upcoming country singer on tour, with an opening performance by local singer Ashley Estevez.
The Lori Fund was founded to support military families after Petruno's previous wife, Lori, died in 2019. The September concert was its sixth annual major fundraising event, which is now organized and run by Petruno and his wife, Marilee Petruno.
In the past several years, the Lori Fund has raised around $1.3 million. Petruno said his goal this year was to hit the $1.5 million-mark for donations made by the Lori Fund to military charities and families in just the five years the nonprofit has been operational.
“I feel pretty confident we'll be doing between $200,000 and $150,000 this year,” Petruno said.
Petruno said he could not do the concert without his wife Marilee and the event sponsors, including headline sponsors Integrative Wealth Management and Mark and Terry Bonney, friends and family around the country and the community of Hammock Beach.
“Without them, none of this is really possible,” he said. “The support is overwhelming. Words can’t describe.”
The concert also auctioned off a ride-along with Sheriff Rick Staly, which went for several thousand dollars, Petruno said. David Mills was the highest bidder, winning the ride-along with Staly.
In an e-mailed statement sent to the Observer, Mills said he and his wife Jennifer Mills were pleased to support the Lori Fund.
Mills, a former Air Force officer and fighter pilot, was a friend of Lori Petruno’s as well as Frank Petruno. The Lori Fund, he wrote, embodies the spirit of the uniform, “to never leave our wingman,” by standing by veterans, first responders and their families.
“The charities the fund supports continue the fight for those who’ve already sacrificed so much,” Mills said in his statement. “Naturally, that’s a cause that’s easy to get behind.”
