Hundreds of Long Islanders flooded into the Henry Viscardi School in Albertson on May 17 for the 52nd annual Celebrity Sports Night for a chance to mingle with former and current sports stars for a good cause.
More than 600 guests lined up before the dinner, baseballs, footballs and pens in hand, ready for autographs from New York Mets pitcher and Long Island native Stephen Matz, former New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson, Manhasset-based sports broadcaster C.J. Papa, former New York Jets wide receiver Wesley Walker and more during an hors d’oeuvres and cocktail reception.
The annual fundraiser, this year led by Chairman John Hogan, raises money for programs and services the Viscardi Center provides to educate, employ and empower more than 1,700 children, teenagers and adults with disabilities every year.
Paralympic gold medal winner Lora Webster, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her left tibia when she was 11 and later underwent a rotationplasty to remove the cancerous bone, said until she joined the Paralympic sitting volleyball team in 2003 at the team’s first camp, she had never been around so many fellow amputees.
“I think that kids need to have a place where they can relate to people that have gone through things in their life similar to their experiences,” Webster said. “It’s hard when you’re living your life in a world surrounded by people who don’t know what you go through on a daily basis, and it’s always nice to find comfort and friendship in people who can relate to you. Not everybody’s life is equal, and some things people face can’t always be understood.”
Webster won the bronze medal in sitting volleyball in 2004 in Athens before winning silver in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London before winning the gold medal in 2016 in Rio, where she was named best blocker of the 2016 Paralympic Games with 19 blocks and 38 rebounds.
Headlining this year’s event was longtime WFAN radio host Mike Francesa, NCAA wrestling champion Anthony Robles and U.S. Marine veteran and Suffolk County Police Officer Matias Ferreira, who was also honored with the Roy Campanella Award.
Robles, an Arizona State University alumnus who won the 2010-11 NCAA wrestling championship despite being born with one leg, said his dream was to compete for a national wrestling title.
“As I went through my wrestling journey, I learned something: I found that I could say not only did I wrestle on the mat with opposing schools, but also off the mat with other challenges, life challenges,” Robles said. “Despite those obstacles, the word ‘unstoppable’ came to mind. My mom always raised me to not let a challenge become an excuse, to never quit and to never say I couldn’t do certain things.”
The theme of the event was “Unstoppable,” with Viscardi students performing during the dinner program before Francesa interviewed Mya Forbes, Viscardi School’s valedictorian this year who will study at SUNY Purchase in the fall; Kate Weglikowsk, a Viscardi School alumnae who will graduate with honors from Hofstra University this fall; and Annel Destinoble, a student enrolled in the center’s PROSPER program for at-risk youth.
Viscardi Center CEO John D. Kemp said the center was working toward implementing a new Bridge program for students who have aged out of the schools but are not going to college, which will help them build life skills such as accessing public transportation, taking classes and learning “how to live a real life more and more independently.”
Kemp also said the school’s on-site independent living house, which is fully accessible, was being renovated to allow more students to spend more time there, including adding an additional night for students to stay and experience life away from home.
