On Saturday, March 30, 2019, NSSA’s annual Dinner For Our Children was held at Leonard’s Palazzo in Great Neck, NY. For 27 years, this event has brought together family, friends, staff and supporters to celebrate the accomplishments of NSSA, and most importantly, our students and clients.
The evening began with a lavish cocktail reception. Guests enjoyed the delicious food, browsed the raffle and board prizes, shopped for beautiful beaded bracelets handmade by adult program participants, had their pictures taken and tried their luck in the casino. Before we knew it, it was time to sit down for this year’s event program and heart-warming video, produced by Associate Executive Director, Kathy Mannion.
We were proud to introduce and celebrate this year’s two graduates and their families. Annie and Kevin have worked so hard and made amazing progress during their time at the Martin C. Barell School. We are confident they will continue to be successful in NSSA’s Adult Services program. Congratulations to the graduates and their families!
Executive Director Nicole Weidenbaum presented the Winters family with an etched glass plaque, expressing just how much we appreciate the Winters Bros. organization. She thanked them for their wonderful generosity in sharing their facilities with NSSA, and making Winters Bros. a second home where our adult program participants can learn, work, exercise and be part of an accepting community. Nicole also thanked NSSA parent Liza Hein for her generosity and help with NSSA Enterprises’ bracelet endeavor; as well as parent Jennifer Prince for donating her time each week, rain or shine, to help with the NSSA Running Club.
We kicked off a new fundraiser at this year’s dinner dance, Step Up for Autism Awareness, a virtual campaign you can participate in no matter where you are in the world. Participants can either register to walk or run themselves, tracking their distance with a fitness tracker or cell phone app, or by donating to the overall campaign at www.charityfootprints.com/nssa. Jen O’Malley and Tori Ardito answered questions and signed up enthusiastic guests. The fundraiser runs through the end of April, so there’s still time for you to participate.
We couldn’t have such a successful event without our wonderful sponsors.
And we always owe much of the event’s success to long-time Event Chairs: Paul & JoAnn Raguso.
We are so grateful to everyone who helped us to offer such exceptional prizes. Special thanks to: Pat and Mary Beth Miranda for donating a week-long stay at Smuggler’s Notch Resort, Michael Rodriguez of Alliance Building Services for four Mets tickets in a box behind home plate at Citifield and The NSSA Parent Association for their support of this year’s dinner dance. And, of course, all the individuals who donated raffle prizes through our new NSSA Amazon Wish List! Thank you so much to everyone!
The evening would not have been complete without the support of our many generous friends: The Rogers Family for donating the printing of the beautiful journal, Bill Montzouros of Creative Design for his help and skill in putting together the wonderful video, M&M Casinos for running our exciting casino games, Sal Mazzeo and Chris Rosborg of CR Solutions for their technical assistance, Sandy’s Party City for the festive balloons, Sir Speedy for our signs and picture background, and, of course, Leonard’s Palazzo for their beautiful venue, delicious food and impeccable service.
The 27th Annual Dinner for Our Children was a great success. We hope you will join us next year, Saturday, April 18, 2020 at Leonard’s Palazzo in Great Neck, for another great evening.
For more pictures, visit our Facebook page.