Viscardi School honors Bobby Nystrom

Wheelchair basketball team receive medals from New York Islanders players at fundraiser

BY CAMERYN OAKES

The Henry Viscardi School hosted its annual Celebrity Sports Night fundraiser May 18, hosting notable sports legends including New York Islanders hockey players Bobby Nystrom, current defenseman Ryan Pulock and former players John Tonelli, Butch Goring and Steve Webb.

The Henry Viscardi School in Albertson is a New York State 4201 school that provides tailored education for students with physical disabilities or medical challenges from Pre-K through High School.

CEO Chris Rosa said it is one of the most prominent schools serving medically fragile students and provides them with a rigorous and inclusive education.

The school also provides programs such as school-to-work transition services, vocational training and job placement, digital accessibility services and workforce diversification assistance to children, adolescents and adults with disabilities and businesses.

Celebrity Sports Night is a key fundraising event that raises the profile of the school’s “life-changing mission on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families that we serve” to the community, Rosa said.

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The fundraising from the event is to support the operation of the school’s essential programs, including innovative projects that “are designed to change the paradigm for access and opportunities for people with disabil- ity,” Rosa said.

“Key fundraisers like Celebrity Sports Night provide us with the ca- pacity to create opportunities for individuals with disabilities and their families to empower themselves,” Rosa said.

He said the school conducts a series of fundraising events, with Celebrity Sports Night among the most meaningful.

The event included a cocktail reception where guests mingled with various sports legends which also included Olympic figure skater, Emily Hughes and former New York Jets Wesley Walker and John Nitti.

The event also included a silent and live auction, dinner and an award ceremony.

Seniors on the Viscardi wheelchair basketball team were awarded with medals from the New York Islanders players.

Viscardi has been partners with the New York Islanders for 47 years, fostering a relationship with the school and students through wheelchair hockey games over the decades.

“They know our mission from the inside out,” Rosa said. “It was really a thrill to be able to honor them for their decades-long commitment to Viscardi’s mission.”

The Viscardi Center awarded in return Nystrom with a Lifetime Achievement Award and CEO of Oak View