Outreach’s 28th Annual Long Island Luncheon – a Successful ‘New Beginning’

June 23, 2022

Outreach’s ‘New Beginnings’ Luncheon Event Raises Funds

to Support Drug and Alcohol Treatment on Long Island

Outreach, one of New York’s leading nonprofit providers of life-changing behavioral health services, honored four outstanding business, labor and non-profit leaders at the agency’s 28th annual Long Island Luncheon on June 23, 2022 at the Stonebridge Country Club in Smithtown. Two-hundred fifty guests attended the highly successful event, which resumed in-person after a two-year virtual presentation.

Recognized this year were leaders whose commitment to Outreach supports the organization’s mission to help Long Island teenagers, young adults, women/women with children, Veterans, families, and others who are struggling with substance use disorders: Roger Clayman, Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; Kevin M. O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer of Dime Community Bank; John Shillingsford, CPA/ABV, CFE, partner at PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP, and Sergio Sedita, Chairman of the Outreach Development Corporation Board of Directors, who received the John Brower, Jr. Memorial Recognition. The luncheon chair was Brian Edwards, a member of the Outreach Development Corporation Board of Directors.

A highlight of the day was the announcement of a significant donation from the John Brower, Jr. Foundation, a charitable organization established by the Brower Family in 2015 to raise awareness of drug abuse and help end the opioid epidemic on Long Island that had claimed John Jr.’s life in 2014. The contribution will support the designation of a special tribute to John Jr. in Outreach’s new young adult residence in Brentwood LI, for which the organization recently broke ground.

“It is such a great privilege to have these committed, innovative and generous individuals, businesses and organizations support Outreach,” said Debra Pantin, president and CEO. “We are so grateful to this year’s honorees and the Brower Family for so committedly giving time and effort in addressing the critical issues of addiction and behavioral health that continue to impact so many families on Long Island.”

For more than four decades, Outreach has inspired individuals and families to achieve a life of unlimited potential by developing and delivering the highest quality evidence-based behavioral health services and training. The non-profit organization offers state-of-the-art assessment, referral, harm reduction techniques, substance abuse and mental health intervention, rehabilitation, and training programs at multiple residential and outpatient locations in New York City and on Long Island.

About Outreach

More than 40 years ago, Outreach opened its doors as a small assessment and referral center to engage people in the community struggling with addiction. Since then, its mission evolved to meet more needs and more communities. Today, Outreach inspires adolescents, adults, and their families to live their healthiest life through high quality, evidence-based behavioral health services and training programs located throughout New York City and Long Island.

For more information about Outreach, visit www.opiny.org. If you or someone you know needs help with a drug or alcohol problem, please call Outreach at 1-833-OPINYORG (1-833-674-6967).

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