Make-A-Wish® Hudson Valley Hosts ‘An Evening of Wishes’ at Annual Wish Ball, Friday, May 8

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. - April 15, 2015 - PRLog -- – Hundreds of distinguished guests, corporate and community leaders will join in honoring the courage of children with life-threatening medical conditions, the joy of their wishes and the compassion of donors at Make-A-Wish^® Hudson Valley’s annual Wish Ball.

The formal benefit, which is the year’s largest fundraiser for the chapter, will begin at 6:30PM, Friday May 8 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Tarrytown.

Darlene Rodriguez of NBC’s Today in New York and Mike Bennett of WHUD’s Mike & Kacey in the Morning, will serve as celebrity co-hosts for the evening’s festivities

The evening’s honorees—Janet and Tom Sullivan—are a prominent business and civic-minded couple from OrangeCounty who have been long-time supporters of Make-A-Wish^®Hudson Valley. They will be presented with the Frank and Kitty Shankwitz Award, given to individuals who represent the same compassion, dedication and support of the Foundation’s mission as Frank and Kitty, who were two of the founders of Make-A-Wish^®, more than three decades ago.

“The generous contributions and volunteer work of Tom and Janet Sullivan have significantly helped our Chapter to carry out its mission, to bring joy to so many children,” said Thomas J. Conklin, President and CEO of Make-A-Wish^®Hudson Valley. He added: “Thanks to their longstanding ties to the OrangeCounty community and their tireless efforts, Make-A-Wish^®HudsonValley has been well positioned to meet the needs of the territory it serves, especially that of Orange County.”

Mr. Sullivan, President and owner of Smith, Seaman & Quackenbush, Inc. Funeral Home in Monroe and Highland Mills and William F. Hogan Funeral Home in Highland Falls, is currently President of the Orange County Chamber Board of Directors which honored him with the Commitment to Community Award, among numerous accolades he has earned in a career spanning 40 years.

He also served as Chair of the Capital Campaign Committee for Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties which raised more than $4 million for the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence. Mr. Sullivan has served in leadership positions for Make-A-Wish^®Hudson Valley as well, including Treasurer and is an immediate past chair.

Mrs. Sullivan has worked with her husband in the business as office manager and has been an active charitable volunteer. Among her contributions to the community have been serving on the board of the Hospice Auxiliary where she is a member; past co-chair of the Hospice or Orange and Sullivan Counties Gala committee and past member of the board of Southwinds Retirement Home in Middletown.

The couple has been jointly honored as well. They are recipients of the Cornell Award presented by Hospiceof Orange and Sullivan Counties and Monroe’s Sacred Heart Church's Lumiere de Sacre Coeur Award.

The Wish Ball will feature live and silent auctions, cocktails and dinner.  Guests will have the unique opportunity to adopt a child’s wish during the evening’s live auction.

Music will be provided by The Motones, one of the area’s premier horn band ensembles.

For more information, please contact Tara Thorne at tthorne@hudson.wish.org (mailto:Thorne@hudson.wish.org) or 914-478-0327.

About Make-A-Wish^® Hudson Valley

Make-A-Wish® grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since its inception in 1986, the chapter has granted wishes to over 2,300 children in the communities it serves. The wish experience is a combined community effort involving volunteers, staff, donors and medical professionals to make each wish come true. The Chapter is a proud participant of the Better Business Bureau Charity Seal Program, which indicates that the organization has met the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. The Chapter serves Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.

For more information about the Hudson Valley Chapter visit www.hudson.wish.org.