Last night, Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) held our annual Party 4 Partners benefit at the MIT Faculty Club in Cambridge. The event was a huge success, both in praising the work of our Legends Award honorees and in raising funding for PYD’s programs.
It was a wonderful night to share with many amazing and inspiring people. We’ll be sharing a number of photos of the event on our Facebook page over the coming weeks, and in the meantime, you can find some of the many highlights below.
And if you did not get a chance to attend, you can always still support PYD today.
Sally Taylor (daughter of James Taylor and Carly Simon and wife of PYD Managing Director Dean Bragonier) performed a duet with Jamie, a PYD youth participant. Jamie has participated in Access to Theatre and Making Healthy Connections for the past seven years, and she dreams of becoming a performer in the future.
Bob Sweeney (former Bruins player and Executive Director of the Bruins Foundation) and the Boston Bruins Foundation was honored for supporting and inspiring youth in Boston and beyond. He was presented with PYD’s Legends Award for being a leader in enhancing the quality of life for children throughout New England.
David Shapiro (CEO of MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership) was honored for his championing of mentoring in Massachusetts, and specifically for assuring that inclusion of youth with disabilities was and is an integral part of the mentoring agenda both locally and nationally. He was also presented with PYD’s Legends Award.
Roberto (center) and Carol (far right) Fernandez were gracious and generous co-chairs of this year’s Party 4 Partners. Their son has participated in multiple PYD programs, including Making Healthy Connections and Mentor Match. We can’t thank them enough for all their help in planning the event and securing the space with MIT!
All photos from the event were taken by Mark Hunt from DisabilityImages.com.