Brookhaven Notebook: Autism Awareness, New 9/11 Memorial, Pit-A-Palooza

This week, the Town of Brookhaven will be “lighting it up blue” for autism awareness with an event sponsored by the Autism Coalition of Long Island.  

“So many families in Brookhaven are affected by autism," said Town Supervisor Mark Lesko. "Hopefully this event will provide information to residents about the various organizations on Long Island that work every day to ensure that children and adults with autism lead healthy and productive lives.”

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium where various autism organizations will provide materials to the public and a ceremony will take place at 7:00 p.m. on April 28.

According to the town, the organizations represented at this event will include:

• Autism Coalition of Long Island
• Eden II / Genesis Outreach Autism Center
• Autism Speaks
• Nassau Suffolk Services For Autism (NSSA)
• Autism Society of America - Nassau / Suffolk Chapter (NSASA)
• Spectrum Designs
• Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE)
• The Elija School
• Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association (AHA)
• Nassau Suffolk Law Services, Inc.
• Hope Fitness
• The Town of Brookhaven Anti-Bias Task Force
• School for Language & Community Development (SLCD) 

To RSVP for this event log on to www.brookhaven.org. If you are an Autism organization and would like to participate, contact Diane Cahill of the Autism Coalition of Long Island at dcahill.autismspeaks@gmail.com and or 631-612-8884.

Town to Construct 9/11 Memorial

The town will construct a memorial at Diamond in the Pines Park in Coram to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There will be three monuments constructed at the site, each honoring a different group that suffered losses that day:

• All of the former students from Town of Brookhaven schools that perished.
• The New York City Fire Department that lost 343 firefighters.
• The New York City Police Department that lost 23 officers and the Port Authority that lost 37 officers. 

The Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars Fischer-Hewins Post 6249 is seeking donations to help with the cost of construction of the 9/11 memorial at Diamond in the Pines park. For more information, click here.

Pit-A-Palooze A Success

Brookhaven held its first annual “Pit-A-Palooza” at the Brookhaven Animal Shelter & Adoption Center on April 10. The event, which according to the town was attended by over 200 enthusiastic animal lovers, was designed to promote “Spay it Forward,” a new program that offers Brookhaven residents free spaying/neutering for their Pit Bulls and Pit Mixes. 

In addition, the Animal Shelter spayed or neutered 15 dogs, made future spay or neuter appointments for many more dogs, and provided free micro-chipping for over 50 dogs.