Local author Mark Iampietro’s latest effort, “The Foiano Cucina Povera Cookbook” did so well on early sales that he made a donation was made to a local charitable-community organization. This time the Northeast Community Center benefited as Iampietro delivered a $2,000 check to executive director Paula Johnson May 8.

My overarching philosophy is to help people who do good work,” says Iampietro, who was deputy director of the Bethlehem Housing Authority before retirement. NECC is located in the Authority’s Marvine-Pembroke housing development and serves many area low income individuals and families.

“Donations like Mark’s really help,” says Johnson who noted that the money would be used to help fund NECC’s summer camp for children. It costs $60 per child for Housing Authority kids to attend, noted Johnson.

Iampietro said that the first 30 days of purchases included buyers from the United States, Great Britain and Italy. It is now available at the Moravian Book Store. Drawing on his own Italian lineage and a bounty of family recipes used by prior generations of his family, Impietro’s cookbook “is intended to provide low cost, delicious meals which use common ingredients.”

Johnson also gave Iampietro a tour of the facility during his visit.