Courage Awards Presented to Caregiving Youth

April 5, 2012 - PRLog -- The American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) held its Hearts & “Soles” Dinner in celebration and support of the 10,000 caregiving youth in Palm Beach County.

AACY’s 3rd annual fundraiser, which was held at Via Mizner Country Club has adopted the theme, Hearts and “Soles” in an effort to promote awareness of what it must be like to “walk in the shoes” of caregiving youth.  

The event included cocktails and dinner, music by the Boca Raton Community Middle School Jazz Band along with a presentation by Peter Slack its Principal. Mr. Slack was accompanied by his sister Keri as they both shared their stories as caregiving youth.

Also during the evening was a tribute by Ronald Gallatin and Gary Siskowski to the memory of Fred Galland, the first Board Chair of AACY.

There were live and silent auctions and AACY’s signature “Courage Awards” for caregiving youth who have courageously and candidly participated in research projects, speaking engagements, performances and media coverage of AACY to further awareness for the cause.

Rina Jakubowicz, Author of “Choose Peace” was the keynote speaker.  Miss Jakubowicz discussed the importance of caring for oneself.

In addition, Co-Chairs of the event, Summer Faerman and Mark Hansen were pleased to welcome comments from Chuck Anderson, President and CEO of United Way of Palm Beach.  Anderson relayed his difficult experiences as youth caregiver for his mother and how he wished some support could have been available for him.

AACY is the only national organization dedicated to the support of kids who care for ill, injured, elderly or disabled family members.  Conservative estimates of the number of caregiving youth nationwide exceed 1.4 million kids. AACY’s model program, the Caregiving Youth Project, in full partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County, now serves more than 500 caregiving youth and their families in 8 middle schools and 17 area high schools. AACY needs and welcomes your support as the demand for its services for child caregivers continues to climb.

For Information About AACY:
Dr. Connie Siskowski (connie@aacy.org)
American Association of Caregiving Youth (www.aacy.org)
561-391-7401


About AACY: The American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) is a Florida based 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporations that began serving the greater Boca Raton community in 1998. AACY is the only organization of its kind in the United States for caregiving youth, a vulnerable and hidden population conservatively estimated to exceed 1.4 millions kids.  Its mission is to recognize, support, and promote the awareness of dual role youth that are both students and caregivers within their families. AACY strives to address the needs of pre-teens, teens, families, and professionals through education and awareness, research, and direct services in cooperation with social, education, healthcare, government, and community corporations, organizations, and agencies. AACY seeks to utilize existing resources on a local, regional, and national level to effectively promote the valuable role a caregiving youth has within the family, in an aging society and in our health delivery system.
   For more information about AACY, go to www.aacy.org, or call 561-391-7401

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The nationalresource for the support of children who are caring for ill, injured, elderly, or disabled family members