FCA to Hold 37th Annual Scholarship Breakfast

Garden City, N.Y., (May 20, 2022) – Family and Children’s Association (FCA), a leading health and human services nonprofit organization on Long Island, will hold its 37th Annual Champions of Change Scholarship Breakfast honoring its Champion of Change honorees and scholarship recipients. This year’s reception will take place on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. at Westbury Manor. The breakfast will celebrate the generosity of its donors, the extraordinary achievements of scholarship winners, and the dedicated staff who administer the program. Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to mingle and sit with the FCA donors who help make their journey possible, gaining further opportunity for career guidance.

Numerous studies report that a child’s ability to learn is negatively affected by family stress, particularly stress resulting from poverty and unemployment. The Scholarship Fund helps support the aspirations of at-risk youth who wish to pursue higher education despite years of struggle with homelessness, foster care or other obstacles.

Over three decades, FCA has gifted more than 1,500 scholarships collectively worth over $2,000,000 to students engaged with FCA’s programs and services, enabling at-risk teens to pursue higher education and improve their lives.

This year’s keynote speaker and Champions of Change honoree, Dr. Bradley Porché, is the Executive Director of Education, Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf. The mission of the school is to empower people who are deaf and hard of hearing through resources, technology, sign language and support services. As an educator, committed deaf activist, and person who is deaf, Dr. Porché will address the challenges his students face and the importance of utilizing available resources to help overcome challenges.

Two other committed community activists are also being honored as 2022 Champions of Change.

• Michael Flynn – Chief Operating Officer of Western Suffolk BOCES, Flynn is responsible for planning, administering, supervising and evaluating the education programs and support services BOCES offers to students including special education, career and technical education and instructional support services. He meets monthly with the Superintendents of Schools from the component school districts and serves as the liaison with the numerous local, county and state agencies which interact with Western Suffolk BOCES on a regular basis.
• Theresa Sanders – President of the Urban League of Long Island, Inc., Sanders has developed direct service programs that empower individuals to become economically self-sufficient, socially conscious community members. A focal point of the League’s community engagement has been to constructively engage youth and children around education, their first job, and college readiness. Sanders serves on the boards of Suffolk County Community College, Long Island Regional Planning Council, Community Development Corporation of Long Island and Long Island Software and Technology Network. An adjunct professor at SUNY Old Westbury, Sanders is currently completing her Doctorate in Education Leadership at St. John’s University.

Those interested in attending the event can register at: https://fcali.org/scholarship. FCA also encourages financial contributions to help purchase scholarships, school supplies, textbooks, laptops, meal plans, and other expenses for students in need. Donations can be made by visiting the registration webpage or by texting “FCAScholar” to 44321.

About FCA

FCA is a not-for-profit agency helping more than 30,000 Long Islanders each year. For more than 135 years, the organization has worked to protect and strengthen vulnerable children, seniors, families, and communities on Long Island.

FCA believes in the potential of Long Island - a place where no child, senior, family or community is left to struggle alone with barriers to health care, education, employment, or economic prosperity. Long Island continues to be one of the greatest places in the world to live and raise a family for many; FCA exists to ensure that be the case for all.

For more information about FCA, visit FCALI.org.