Richard and Karen Orzello are seen at their Pittston home on Friday afternoon.
                                 Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

Richard and Karen Orzello are seen at their Pittston home on Friday afternoon.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

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PITTSTON — Karen Orzello has been a Times Leader reader “for as long as I can remember.”

On Friday, she also became the 22nd weekly $1,000 winner in the paper’s TL Cares cash giveaway program, which started in May.

Orzello, who says she always starts with the front page and reads her way through the paper, had read about the program, but didn’t expect to be among the winners.

“Oh, I couldn’t believe it,” Orzello said. “I was very surprised and happy.”

But she was perhaps even more excited to be able to designate the Women’s Resource Center as her charity of choice.

Under the TL Cares program, the weekly winners receive $1,000, plus a $1,000 donation made by the Times Leader to the winner’s chosen nonprofit or charity organization.

Orzello believes in the work done by WRC, and recently donated clothing to the organization.

“It’s something that is important to me,” she said.

On a personal note, Orzello and husband Richard marked their 50th anniversary in July. She is the proud mother of two children and four grandchildren, the newest of whom entered the world on Oct. 8.

When asked what she would use her $1,000 for, Orzello didn’t hesitate.

“My family,” she said.