James Duffy of Levittown Honored with the Community Partnership Award at ACLD Annual Employment Recognition Breakfast

LEVITTOWN, NY; DECEMBER 1 2016 – James Duffy of Levittown, Levittown-Island Trees VFW Post 9592 Military Assistance Program (MAP) Chairman, was honored by Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities (ACLD) with the Community Partnership Award at its 31st Annual Employment Recognition Breakfast held at Carlyle on the Green in Farmingdale. Duffy received the Award in recognition of his work with Duffy’s Band of Angels, a group comprised of ACLD volunteers who put together care packages for troops deployed overseas.

ACLD, a leading Long Island based not-for-profit agency supporting people with developmental disabilities, hosts the Breakfast each year as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The event honors employees with special needs who have made notable achievements on the job, salutes businesses that are committed to hiring people with disabilities and encourages other businesses to do the same because, as Jeanie Shelton-Clyne, ACLD’s Assistant Director of Vocational Services said, “it’s what people can do that matters.”

“ACLD has been, continues to be, and will remain committed to helping the people we support pursue their dreams of meaningful, sustainable employment,” said Rich Breuninger, First Vice President of the ACLD Board of Trustees. “ACLD is dedicated to identifying successful employment solutions for people with developmental disabilities.”

Nearly 150 people, representing many of the more than 100 Long Island companies ACLD’s Vocational Program partners with, attended the event.

Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities, Inc. (ACLD) was founded in 1957. The 501(c)(3), not-for-profit agency serves the needs of more than 3,000 children, teens and adults with learning disabilities, autism and other developmental disabilities, and provides support for their families. ACLD's mission is to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to pursue enviable lives, increase their independence and improve the quality of their lives within the community. ACLD employs more than 1,100 people and operates 80 different program sites including group homes and apartment programs across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Service programs include early childhood services, day habilitation, residential alternatives, vocational training and job placement, recreation programs, respite, family support services, Medicaid service coordination, and medical and behavioral health services.

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Photo Caption: ACLD presented James Duffy (third from left) and Duffy’s Band of Angels (from left) Gandolfo Cascio, Carol Silverstein and Elise Weinstein with its Community Partnership Award at its 2016 Employment Recognition Breakfast. Also pictured with the group (from right) are Merril Krassner; Susan Reed, ACLD Assistant Director of Community Based Services; and Lupe Lightell.