MYC's 15th Annual Fundraiser Event a Hit!

On behalf of the Milford Youth Commission and staff, we would like to thank everyone who attended, donated and supported to make the 15th Annual Fundraiser successful, raising $5,000 for Youth Center programs! The event was held on Friday, September 5th at CraftRoots Brewing from 6-9 PM and included great beer and food, live music, raffles and community awards! The Youth Commission selects businesses, individuals and/or organizations each year for our Community and Individual Appreciation Awards! The awardees are recognized for their dedication and support of the Youth Center! The 2025 Community Appreciation Awards were presented to Central One Federal Credit Union, The MYC Golf Committee (Pamela Goldman, Ken Rosa, Pat Murphy and Nick Mazzarini), and to Phyllis Foley!

The first award was presented to the Central One Federal Credit Union! Central One did not hesitate to show their support to the Center, once they joined the Milford community! In addition to providing free financial literacy programs for our youth programs and to our staff, Central One has also been the presenting sponsor for our Golf tournament over the last three years, with a generous overall donation of $15,000 to the Center! We are so grateful for their continued support and generosity. Thank you, Nick and Susanne, for attending the event to accept the award!

The second Community Appreciation Award was presented to the MYC Golf Committee! Over the last three years, members of this committee, along with Brendan and Christine form our Board, have helped raise over $74,000 for the Center! These individuals dedicate months of their personal time to not only organize this event, but they also make generous personal contributions and help with gaining more partnerships and sponsors! In the past, we had only one large annual fundraiser a year, but 4 years ago, Pat Murphy from the YMCA and Ken Rosa, Milford resident and long-term supporter of the Center, met with Jen Ward, the Director of the Center, wanting to offer their help with planning a golf tournament. Jen, admittedly, had no idea where to even start but with their guidance, three years in, this event has now become our most successful fundraiser for the Center! Nick Mazzarini of Central One Federal Credit Union and Pam Goldman of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts joined the second year and have been unstoppable with their amazing ideas and partnerships, due to their own connections to help garner even more support! In addition to their dedication to this event, they are just amazing people! If we needed help with revising our handbook, we reached out to Pat, who is an expert when it comes to child protection guidance. If we need someone to speak on financial literacy for any of our programs, Nick will be there. Pam runs an amazing monthly food program for our after-school program, which the kids love, and she provides all the ingredients and instructions! Finally, Ken Rosa. He hates any type of recognition, but he is that behind-the-scenes force that can get along with anyone and help make influential partnerships to help the Center. Despite the numerous other responsibilities that all these individuals have to their personal jobs, lives and other community engagements, they are so dedicated supporting the Center and we are forever grateful. It was our absolute honor to present Nick, Pat, Pam and Ken with their awards!

Our third and final Community Appreciation Award of the night was presented to Phyllis Foley! Phyllis Foley is one of those special individuals, who we have all been so lucky to get to know at the Center! Each time, she walks through the front door of the Center, we she is ready for business. She is here with a purpose and plan! Phyllis joined us as a volunteer, representing the Greenleaf Gardening Club of Milford, back in 2021. What started as a once-a-month program offered to our after-school program, with the goal of learning about gardening, has led to Phyllis personally volunteering her time, full-year-round! Phyllis has grown her program to also help us with our outdoor and indoor gardens at the Center and in addition, running programs for our summer camp! Due to the success of the program, we wrote a grant to expand with raised garden beds, which we were just awarded funds from the Milford Cultural Council! Phyllis is always willing to also donate her time during our special events, like our Thanksgiving dinner and our Open Houses and has a busier social calendar that all of us! We are so appreciative of everything that Phyllis brings not only to the Center but to the community as a whole! It is more than just a gardening program for Phyllis, she genuinely cares about the kids, education, the center and the community!

We would also like to recognize State Representative Brian W. Murray who attended the event and/or gave out citations to the awardees including State Thank you to all our Board Members who helped to make the event a success, including: Brendan Rickert, Stacy Darling, Chuck Calagione, Darlene Dulude, John Dulude, Ariea Bryan, Jason Vaz, Christine Crean, Gail Jussaume, Jonathan Capece, Christina Wiech, and Martin Montoya!

We would also like to thank The Pub Kings, for allowing us to use their microphone and speaker for the awards! Finally, thank you to the entire CraftRoots staff for your amazing hospitality and for arranging a food truck, for additional food options to purchase! Thank you to our MYC staff (Emily, Joanna, Jen, Maddy, Sam, Brian and David) and volunteers for all the help with the event too!

We would like to thank every individual, organization and/or business that contributed to this fundraiser with a monetary donation and/or raffle prize! Thank you to the following individuals or businesses who made a monetary donation: Pam Hunter, Danielle King, Victor Canino, Michelle Morais, Sandra Baldi, Kerry Pepe, Jacques Cote, Stacy Darling and the Ericksons!

Thank you to the following individuals and/or businesses who helped us complete 52 raffles, valued at over $7,500 worth of prizes: The Ward Family, Craftroots Brewing, Boston Beer Co. (DogFish Head Brewery), Chuck Calagione, Darlene Dulude, John Dulude, Gail Jussaume, Christina Wiech, Martin, Judy Tusino, Stephanie Sidebottom, Lauren Kay, Ken Rosa, Target of Milford, The Women’s Auxiliary from the Italian Vets Post 40, Christine Crean, DoubleTree of Milford, Susan Dykhoff, Olivia Meehan, Livnow MASSAGE , Bailey White, Chris Augustine, Worcester Railers HC, and RAYDIO! Finally, thank you to Carlos Benjamin and Jay Vaz of the Facility Department for helping us unload the van after the event!

Finally, we would also like to thank one of our former youth and staff members, Sabrina Reynoso, who made an amazing speech at the event! Sabrina grew up coming to the Center as a young child, prior to the renovation, and she actually helped fight and advocate for the renovation with her peers! Sabrina eventually joined us as part-time staff for both our summer camp and after-school program, and we are so proud of the young woman that she has become!

For the video of Sabrina’s speech, click here.

We hope you enjoy the photos from the event here! If you would like to donate, please click here: https://milfordyouthcenter.org/donate/