There were two speeches made by students who have benefited from being a part of Open Heart - Open Mind, Partnership with Children’s school based counseling program. Bill Spencer, a sixth grade student from PS 67, spoke about his experience with Partnership with Children social workers, “[They] taught me about feelings and how to use talking instead of fighting. They taught me how to set a good example, and to be a leader.” He received generous applause after he told the crowd that he had not had a fight in over a year.

Jose Mendez, a 17 year old who has been involved with Partnership with Children for seven years, also spoke about how he learned to deal with his anger and became more interested in school. He said that the time spent in the program became a comfort to him, and that to this day, his social workers will call him to make sure he’s doing well in school, and to ask if he needs help with anything.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards. Board of Directors President, Allison Bodenmann, presented the Partnership with Children Award for Leadership to the late Donna Salvatore, who was a prominent member of the advertising industry. Donna’s husband, Matt Vaccaro, graciously accepted the award on her behalf.

Longtime Board member and personal friend Bebe Broadwater presented the Ann Vanderbilt Award for Achievement to Janice Savin Williams and Chris Williams.

Piers Davies, of Christies, presided over the live auction. He brought the gavel down at $10,000 for an extremely rare bottle of 1982 Mouton Rothschild wine. Winning bids from the live and silent auctions combined for a total of $49,880.

Partnership with Children would like to thank everyone who made the event such a success!

Click HERE to read excerpts from the students’ speeches.