Members of the Smithtown Sunrise Rotary Club Present $5k Check to Autism Speaks LI Chapter
The Smithtown Sunrise Rotary Club gathered together yesterday morning, to present a check in the amount of $5,000 to Autism Speaks, Long Island Chapter. Thanks to the successful fundraising efforts and ticket sales from the 2016 Annual Snow ball. The favorite event was held at The Watermill on Saturday, January 30th, 2016. The faces of Autism Awareness in the Smithtown area, Kathleen and Rick Lanese, were overjoyed to accept the check from the Snow ball.
“This is just wonderful! I’m looking forward to our work together in the future, especially next month, when we light up the town of Smithtown in Blue.” -Kathleen Lanese
The Smithtown Sunrise Rotary Club has been serving the community since 1958. Members believe in a simple creed; Service Above Self, to make Smithtown and neighboring communities in Suffolk County a better place to live. The Rotary Club of Smithtown contributes over $40,000.00 annually to local community projects.
Rick and Kathleen Lanese have been at the forefront of building a brighter future for children and young adults on the spectrum throughout the Community. The Spectrum Designs Foundations, Woman of the Year, has worked tirelessly to improve education, therapy and has even worked with Congress to develop legislation to cultivate the quality of life for diagnosed individuals. Rick and Kathleen have raise two beautiful sons, both on the autism spectrum, who are smarter, kinder and more capable than any young adult, we’ve ever met. Together, the couple has made extraordinary strides to teach our community, that Autism is not a disease, nor a disability. They have removed stigmas in the general public, enlightening us to the exceptional way an autistic brain processes information. The Lanese’s have become an institution, inspiring the people of our Community to unite in the quest to understand, communicate and embrace our neighbors, family and friends who see and feel everything more vividly than the average person could ever imagine.