make a difference....be part of the team!
Our Team
Our History
Our History
Mission Statement:
"The Operation Foundation is dedicated to bringing healing, hope, and hands-on support to those in need. Inspired by the timeless spirit of creativity, empathy, and precision embodied in the iconic game 'Operation,' our mission is to provide critical resources, financial aid, and community-driven programs that empower
Mission Statement:
"The Operation Foundation is dedicated to bringing healing, hope, and hands-on support to those in need. Inspired by the timeless spirit of creativity, empathy, and precision embodied in the iconic game 'Operation,' our mission is to provide critical resources, financial aid, and community-driven programs that empower individuals and families to overcome challenges, especially in the areas of healthcare, education, and emergency relief."
We have an amazing team of volunteers dedicated to making a difference. Our volunteers are passionate about turning their convictions into meaningful action every day. Are you ready to be part of something bigger? Reach out to learn how you can get involved!
Our History
Our History
Our History
When my father, John Spinello, was in college back in 1963, he invented the iconic game Operation. More than 50 years later, I came to realize just how impactful his invention has been on the world.
Over the years, thousands of letters have poured in, sharing stories of how the game brought families together through the joy of play and in
When my father, John Spinello, was in college back in 1963, he invented the iconic game Operation. More than 50 years later, I came to realize just how impactful his invention has been on the world.
Over the years, thousands of letters have poured in, sharing stories of how the game brought families together through the joy of play and inspired countless people to pursue careers in medicine.
In honor of his incredible legacy, we founded Operation Feed, a nonprofit organization dedicated to carrying forward the spirit of joy, connection, and inspiration that the game has provided. Through Operation Feed, we aim to offer families hope and vital aid during times of need by bridging support from local businesses and communities.
My father is my hero, and his ingenuity lives on through the foundation’s mission of giving, sharing, and connecting. Together, we can continue to make a difference in the lives of others.
Our Mission
Our History
Our Mission
Operation Feed is dedicated to addressing hunger in the Pittsburgh area by providing those in need with access to nutritious meals through our comprehensive food program. Our approach goes beyond food distribution — we promote the value of nutrition, foster self-sufficiency, create meaningful dinner experiences, and instill hope within ou
Operation Feed is dedicated to addressing hunger in the Pittsburgh area by providing those in need with access to nutritious meals through our comprehensive food program. Our approach goes beyond food distribution — we promote the value of nutrition, foster self-sufficiency, create meaningful dinner experiences, and instill hope within our community.
By taking a holistic approach, Operation Feed aims to ensure that food relief has a lasting, meaningful impact. Looking ahead, our ultimate goal is to combat hunger on a national scale by establishing a network of member food banks and inspiring communities across the country to join us in the fight to end hunger.
How your donations will help!
Our Vision
Our Accomplishments
Our Approach
Operation Feed aims to ensure that food relief has a lasting, meaningful impact. Our vision is to help the community on many different levels. Not only helping to support our families in need but the local mom and pop restaurants and more. Looking ahead, our ultimate goal is to combat hunger on a national scale by establishing a network
Operation Feed aims to ensure that food relief has a lasting, meaningful impact. Our vision is to help the community on many different levels. Not only helping to support our families in need but the local mom and pop restaurants and more. Looking ahead, our ultimate goal is to combat hunger on a national scale by establishing a network of member food banks and inspiring communities across the country to join us in the fight to end hunger and unite together to build a strong community.
Our Approach
Our Accomplishments
Our Approach
It all starts with you and your donations. Emulating the joy the game operation brought to so many families is the joy we want to bring through meaningful meals to families, To provide a sense of hope and joy in times of hardshio and pain. We also want to help build up our local mom and pop shops. With your generous donations we will be p
It all starts with you and your donations. Emulating the joy the game operation brought to so many families is the joy we want to bring through meaningful meals to families, To provide a sense of hope and joy in times of hardshio and pain. We also want to help build up our local mom and pop shops. With your generous donations we will be purchasing gift cards from our local small businesses and donating them to those in need. Helping as many places and people in our community and grow from there.
Our Accomplishments
Our Accomplishments
Our Accomplishments
Over the years, we have accomplished many important milestones in our mission to support the families and small businesses in our community. We have helped keep the small businesses afloat while providing meals and joy to our families in need. Being able to bring a smile to someones face, to instill hope and joy to the people who are stru
Over the years, we have accomplished many important milestones in our mission to support the families and small businesses in our community. We have helped keep the small businesses afloat while providing meals and joy to our families in need. Being able to bring a smile to someones face, to instill hope and joy to the people who are struggling, is a special gift. We can't do it without your help. When it comes to donations, there is no such thing as too big or too small. Anything you can do to help, WILL make a difference.
Follow us : instagram @OPERATIOnFEED
this story may shock you!
The back story....
In 1963 my father, John Spinello, was an industrial design student at the university of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. In one of his classes he was required to make a toy or a game. He chose to make a game. Whenever I tell people that my dad created the game I get these 2 questions all the time:
Was he a doctor?
What made him think of the game?
When my father was 3 years old he ACTUALLY stuck a pin in an electrical socket and got zapped. That was his inspiration. He wanted to make a game that duplicated that sensation.
He got to work and created box with a metal grid filled with circles and squiggly lines with a buzzer beneath it. Using a metal stylus that you needed to work your way around the grid. But watch out! If you touched any of the edges it would spark and buzz making you jolt away in excitement!
After the class was over a good friend of his told him he should bring the game to Marvin Glass, one of Chicago’s largest game developers. He loved it! Marvin offered my dad $500 and a job that would be waiting for him upon graduation. My Dad had to basically beg for the $500. Eventually had gotten 2 separate checks of $250 at separate times. He NEVER got the job.
We never told many people about it when we were young. We did however cherish the game. We played it quite often and it really brought us closer and created some really special memories playing the game. I believe the game also helped me develop some really good hand eye coordination. I became really good at sports and that hand eye coordination helped me excel. My dad never talked about creating the game back then either. I respected his humbleness. Which is one his most amazing qualities and that of which he has instilled into me. One quality I couldn’t be prouder to have.
As time passed the game operation became a classic game. Time had to pass for that to happen. Then when we did talk about it, it became way more impressive. Many families would join together and play. Precious time that they cherished as kids and as adults created those same traditions by keeping this games legacy alive. Friends in the neighborhood who couldn’t afford it would join in also creating precious memories. It also endless the amount of people the game inspired to become part of the medical profession. So many became surgeons, they used this game as part of their initial training. This game is currently used in occupational therapies. Others became nurses, doctors, dentists, and more!! Word really cannot fully describe the love and inspirations this game brought to the world. I don’t know of 1 person that didn’t play the game and love it!
What do you mean he only got $500? How mad is he? Wow, he must be so bitter? When I tell people the story these are the questions they always ask. My dad is simply one of the most humble, loving, and funny people on the planet. Also, one of the most hardest working men around. I don’t remember him ever taking a day off. His work ethic was second to none. Once again, another characteristic I was blessed to get from him. He doesn’t have an ounce of regret. Even though he went bankrupt, it never changed his heart. He views himself as one of the richest men alive. He never dwelled on the past, he kept on going. He taught me to do the same. I have had some hardships and I never looked back. I forged ahead with those values instilled in me and for that have been able to accomplish anything I have put my mind to. The impact Operation had on the world is what brings him the joy in his heart. The number of families and medical professionals who accredited the game to some of their best memories and now their career dreams, means more than any amount of money to my dad. I couldn’t be prouder to call him my father.
I have to tell you about Tim Walsh, he is a toy inventor. Tim was writing a book about toys, who invented them and when. The name of the book is called “Timeless Toys”. Its and amazing book that shows the history and timeline of some of the most classic games ever made. In search of the inventor of operation he found my dad’s name on the patent. Tim the proceeded to call every single John Spinello in the Chicago phonebook. My brother was John Spinello junior. One night the phone rings. My brother answers,
Tim: Are you John Spinello ?
My brother: Yes I am
Tim: Did you invent the game operation?
My Brother: No, But my dad did.
Tim: Is he there? Can I talk to him?
My brother: Sure, I’ll go get him
Tim hit the JACKPOT. He was astonished that he actually found the inventor of the game of operation just by going through the names in the phonebook. Tim flew out to meet my parents and was able get what he needed for the book. The thing about my dad is that once you meet him and get to know him, you fall in love with him. Tim and my father became amazing friends from that point on.
Years later my dad went bankrupt and lost his business. He also needed about 30 thousand dollars to get the work done that he so desperately needed in his mouth. His teeth and gums were just in horrible condition. While Tim was out visiting my dad one day my dad opened up to him about what was going medically and financially.
Tim then confided in a good friend of his named Peggy Brown. These two are absolutely amazing people, selfless. They cared so much for my father. The two of them loved and adored my dad so much that they wanted to help. They decided to start a crowd rise campaign to see if they could help raise the money he needed for the oral surgery. They thought that with all the people that loved and played the game would give $1 he’d be taken care of. Little did they know what was about to happen.
The Huffington Post caught wind of what was going on and wrote about it. OVERNIGHT the story went globally viral. My dad was hit by the largest media storm he never could have imagined. He was on news broadcast after news broadcast. Jimmy Kimmel even had his entire opening dialogue all about my dad. My dad had no idea he just happened to have the tv on. He told me as soon as he started talking about him he couldn’t believe it and almost fell out of bed. Tons of countries doing interviews over the phone. One day he was doing interviews from 6am to late into the night. I called to check in on him and he told me he just wanted to go hide in the closet. He always made me laugh.
The biggest part if this that had the most impact on me were the letters. When you made a donation to the cause you were able to write a note to my dad. I sat and read story after amazing story about how many people’s lives he has touched and how many people he inspired into amazing doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, and more. I cried for the next two weeks just continually reading these stories and trying to wrap my head around the fact that these people are talking about MY DAD! I was blown away at how thousands of people wrote in and how amazing they felt towards my dad. My heart was so full and I could feel the love and joy while reading it. Again, this just confirms how I feel about my dad, and the amazing man that he is, my HERO!
For so many years I have told his story to so many. People are blown away by what he did and what is in his heart, truly a man that couldn’t be prouder of the legacy this game has left. I have for years wanted to do something to take this legacy and find a way to help people. There was a doctor who created a device because of this game his name is Dr. Steven J. Stryker MD, Professor of Clinical Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School Of medicine. He said the game for him as a child helped him game was significant in his life and it was an early indicator that he might gain some skills that might lead to a career in surgery but also in hindsight it represented one of the early surgical simulators. Not only did it inspire him to become a surgeon, he took it a step further. He created the game operation that was used in actual thyroid surgeries. His creation would actually buzz while surgeons were removing the thyroid to prevent vocal cord damage which was a serious risk in this type of surgery. In 2013 I myself was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. My thyroid was removed using this exact device. Let me tell you how happy my dad was to find out that his device saved my voice. All kidding aside, it became a real full circle moment. My dad created a game, this game inspired a man to become a surgeon, this surgeon them created a device which ultimately helped his daughter.
THE PART OF THE STORY NO ONE KNOWS
Remember the job he didn’t get. 10 years after the fact Marvin Glass had passed away. My dad was hired and began working there. Only a handful of years ago my dad told me, “You actually saved my life when you were little”. It started here with a man that worked there his name was Al Keller, he was 33 years old. My dad had never really talked to him much. I think that this is the one time being a pain in the ass as child paid off. I was quite rambunctious. I had a thing with the garage door at one point. I would always leave it open and one time I got my young neighbor Todd stuck under it. Yep I wanted to run under it as it was closing, made him do it, he wasn’t so lucky. One day my dad had to get some paperwork signed by Al. This was the first time he had ever really talked to him. After talking for a couple hours they both learned they had daughters the same age. So, wouldn’t you know it but Al was having the same issues with the garage door that my dad was having with me. This created a similar bond between them. They proceeded came up with a buzzer that would alert them when it was left open. Al has some deeply rooted issues. Later to find out that he was paranoid. If he didn’t know you or talk to you he felt that you had a conspiracy against you. Not too long after my dad and al created this bond over their daughters. Al came to work one day, walked in and SHOT AND KILLED the receptionist. Proceeded downstairs where 2 of the managing partners were. SHOT AND KILLED both of them. Then he SHOT one of my dad’s good friends who was standing RIGHT NEXT TO HIM! He was shot in the stomach and severed his spine leaving him paralyzed. Another man was shot 3 times and survived. He then went to the front of the office, reloaded the gun, and SHOT HIMSELF in the head. They found a death list in his shoe. My dads name was crossed off. This story blew my mind. Something they NEVER told us and I didn’t learn about till a handful of years ago. I can’t imagine to have not grown up without him. I couldn’t be more blessed that he lived. That he was able to be the man he became and to create a legacy. The most important part is that he has been alive to celebrate it and see his legacy live on.
This game has helped me in so many ways. The largest impact was being raised by John Spinello. By a man who taught me to be selfless. To always be kind. To not take life so seriously. To be humble and work hard. That is his legacy. It’s all these qualities that have made me who I am today. These qualities I can now hand down to my kids and hope that they continue also to their kids and so on. This is one of the best ways to keep his legacy going.
Then covid-19 hit and the need for food for so many, and the need to help the small businessman. The lightbulb went off. All things my dad did and molded me to be came to light.
Operation Feed came to life, so many with the same hearts wanted to help. We began purchasing gift cards from the struggling local small business and giving them to families in need.
What fills my heart is knowing that on a Friday night the families can get together and have a moment of fun. Have a pizza party and for a moment be happy. Just like the past when families can join together and have that joy playing operation. I hope one day to be able to have a fraction of the impact that my dad and operation has had on the world!
sponsors & Dedications
Empire Investigations LLC
Krazy Kreations Embroidery
Empire Investigations LLC
Click Here to visit their website.
Harlan's Elite Customs
Krazy Kreations Embroidery
Empire Investigations LLC
We at Harlans Elite Customs look forward to working along side operation feed and are grateful to be apart of it. We take pride in our work and are trying to help spread the message that operation feed is conveying by offering affordable custom shirts/designs to whomever would like to be apart of this movement.
Click Here to visit their website.
Krazy Kreations Embroidery
Krazy Kreations Embroidery
Krazy Kreations Embroidery
