Carl DiMaiti stuck his neck out to right a terrible wrong done to the residents of Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood.

DiMaiti's sister, Carol Stuart was murdered there, after attending a pre-natal class at a hospital in the area. Carol and her husband, Charles, were found in a blood-spattered car; their son was delivered by emergency c-section and died within days. Charles claimed that they had been attacked by a black gunman.

Police scoured the neighborhood, looking for the shooter. Although several people were picked up, none were charged. Then Charles' account came under suspicion, and the police sought him out for questioning. He committed suicide; evidence later proved that he was indeed the murderer.

Carol's family was devastated, by her death. Carol's brother, teacher Carl DiMaiti, saw something that had to be done, beyond the family's grieving. He looked around at the community that had been wrongly blamed for his sister's murder—and decided to offer up something positive. "We wanted to heal the wounds," he said.

He went door-to-door in the neighborhood apologizing, though it wasn't the DiMaitis who had made the accusation. But that didn't seem enough.

So DiMaiti created the Carol DiMaiti Stuart Foundation to fund some scholarships for Mission Hill students and activities that improve race relations. DiMaiti appealed for contributions, explaining why he was doing this and hoping to raise a few thousand dollars.

He got much more than that.

Thousands of letters poured in from all over the country, many with checks ranging from $5 to $1,000. "We were awed," said DiMaiti. "There were letters from parents who had suffered similar misfortune. We thought people would contribute . . . but we never thought they would take the time to write all those heartfelt letters." One woman enclosed $10 and a message: "I am 70 years old and living on a fixed income; otherwise my check would be for a larger amount. I had a beautiful 26-year-old daughter who was murdered by her husband, and I believe I know the heartache of her family."

In just a few months, the foundation raised more than half a million dollars.

The money sent a lot of Mission Hill students to college. "I think there's an unspoken bond between our family and the residents of Mission Hill," he said, "an unspoken bond as victims."

Update:
Carl DiMaiti spent many years as a teacher and school administrator, including 13 years as principal at St. Mary's High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. In 2016, he became Head of School at Pope John XXIII High School in Everett, Massachusetts. He remains president of the Carol DiMaiti Stuart Foundation.