The Viscardi Center scored its biggest fundraising victory ever last Thursday with its 50th annual Celebrity Sports Night.
A record crowd of 870 people that included celebrity sports figures Eli Manning, Joe Namath and Bryant Gumbel raised a record $4.4 million for the Albertson non-profit, Associate Vice President for Development and External Relations Kim Brussell said. The previous record was about $2 million.
“It was wild here that night,” Brussell said.
The more than 40 celebrity athletes who appeared at the $500-per-ticket event in Albertson donated their time to sign autographs and interact with the physically disabled students and adults the Viscardi Center serves, Brussell said.
The majority of them — including former New York Jets quarterback Namath, former New York Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson and former professional wrestler Mick Foley — have attended several years in a row, she said.
“They just interact with the children in a completely different way, and I just think that engages them and these children really find a special place in their hearts,” Brussell said.
The lineup also included Victoria Arlen, a gold-medal Paralympic swimmer and ESPN reporter who overcame a disease that put her in a vegetative state for four years. She won the Viscardi Center’s Roy Campanella Award.
The Celebrity Sports Night proceeds will expand programs through the Viscardi Center and its Henry Viscardi School for children with severe physical disabilities.
The athletes acted in skits and musical numbers with Viscardi School students directed by former Olympic figure skater JoJo Starbuck. Each celebrity guest also got an art piece by Viscardi School students.
“These kids are the real champions,” said Manning, the New York Giants quarterback, after receiving his piece, according to a Viscardi Center news release.
Viscardi School valedictorian Chris Alvarez, 18, said the school gave him opportunities that he would not have had at his former school, which he said only focused on his physical disabilities.
Alvarez now plans to study communications at Adelphi University in the fall in pursuit of his dream to be a broadcast journalist, he said.
“When I was born, doctors didn’t give me much time to live, but I’m now 18 years old,” said Alvarez, the oldest person to ever live with the severe skeletal disorder Thanatophoric Dysplasia Type 2. “I believe that I have lived a less than ordinary life. Despite my physical and medical challenges, I am no different than any other ambitious high school student.”
Celebrity Sports Night’s golden anniversary connected the Viscardi Center with many new donors and renewed connections with many who were involved before, Brussell said.
Brussell said the money raised last week will let the Viscardi Center expand its “Youth Transition Services” for students with disabilities and its PROSPER program for students at risk of dropping out of school into more Nassau and Suffolk County school districts. The PROSPER Program serves students with and without disabilities and has a 98-percent success rate, Brussell said.
The proceeds will also expand the Viscardi Center’s job training programs for disabled adults, Brussell said. The center is also looking to establish a “social enterprise” business that would employ people with disabilities, Brussell said.
“Fundraisers like this allow us to identify the need for additional types of training programs where we see a trend in employment hiring knowing that once they complete the training here, they’ll be able to find jobs,” she said.
The 51st Celebrity Sports Night is set for May 18, 2017.
