Helen Keller Services Announces GALA Honorees

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - April 13, 2018 - PRLog -- Helen Keller Services will culminate its 125^th Anniversary activities with a GALA on September 13, 2018, to be held at Liberty Warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Serving as this year's honorees will be CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Chairman, New York City Capital Markets, Darcy Stacom, and former National Grid Chairman Robert B. Catell. The announcement was made by HKS President and CEO Joseph Bruno.

"We're pleased and excited that two of New York's most respected and influential professionals will be honorees at our GALA," observed Bruno. "Darcy Stacom led the extraordinary CBRE team responsible for the successful sale of our Willoughby Street headquarters building, which allows us to move to new and enhanced headquarters in Brooklyn later this year. She is a leading figure in New York City's real estate community and a true friend of Helen Keller Services. Bob Catell is someone I've known personally and professionally for many years, going back to his Brooklyn Union Gas and Keyspan Energy days. By serving as honorees, Darcy and Bob each bring considerable support to Helen Keller Services and its mission to enable individuals who are blind, visually-impaired, deaf-blind or have combined hearing-vision loss to live, work and thrive in the communities of their choice."

Darcy Stacom, crowned "Queen of the Skyscrapers" by the Wall Street Journal, has completed more than $84 billion in sales, financing, joint venture, lease-hold and development transactions. In the last four years, she has three times been the #1 Capital Markets Professional at CBRE globally. With more than 30 years of real estate experience, Ms. Stacom is a frequent guest speaker and a strong supporter of educational and non-profit organizations.

Robert Catell, whose career with Brooklyn Union Gas began in 1958, currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook University, New York State Smart Grid Consortium, Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, and Futures in Education Endowment Fund. He also serves on the Board of the following not for profit organizations: Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, Department of Education; Diocese of Rockville Centre; Feinstein Institute for Medical Research; St. Francis Hospital Foundation; and the New York City Police Foundation.

Helen Keller Services began in Brooklyn in 1893 as The Industrial Home for the Blind. Two years later, National Grid, then Brooklyn Union Gas, opened its doors around the corner. "Our two organizations have been linked ever since," Bruno explained, "with National Grid and its predecessor companies making sure that we benefited at every turn. It has been a wonderful partnership for which we are forever grateful."

Bruno anticipates that the move to new headquarters for Helen Keller Services will coincide closely with the September GALA. Located at 180 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn, the new 44,000-square-foot space will meet the needs of clients and staff alike.

"This is a very exciting time for Helen Keller Services," concluded Bruno. "We are honoring our 125-year-old Brooklyn roots with the GALA and the move to new space in Brooklyn. While our scope of services has expanded, allowing us to touch the lives of countless blind and visually impaired men, women, and children, what hasn't changed in our long history is our commitment to the surrounding community which has been made possible by organizations like CB Richard Ellis and National Grid that generously support our goals and dreams."

More information on the GALA is available by visiting www.helenkeller.org/hks/events or contacting Deborah Rodriguez at drodriguez@helenkeller.org or 718-522-2122, ext. 2204.