The stormy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the REED community at the 2nd annual REED Foundation for Autism Golf Classic at the Edgewood Country Club in River Vale, NJ, on July 18th. Funds raised will help provide meaningful job training and employment to teens and adults with autism.
We were proud to honor long-time REED supporter, Craig Kunisch, owner of the Mahwah Bar & Grill, with a Community Impact Award. “Craig is known for his compassion and desire to help others,” explained Lisa Goldstein, vice president of development. “It’s those qualities that drove him to partner with REED Academy and offer his business as a job training site for teens with autism.”
Craig’s restaurant then became the first business to offer paid employment to Mark, a REED Academy graduate. In his acceptance speech, Craig told the crowded room, “The biggest lesson I learned was from my parents who used to say, ‘you’re probably not going to change the world, but if you can make it better for a few people along the way, you’ve done an amazing thing.’”
He added, “Mark was hired to do a job and he did it well. He brightened up the Mahwah Bar & Grill – literally by cleaning and setting all of the tables and figuratively by making our work environment a brighter and happy one with his smile and energy.”
A special thank you to our presenting sponsors Ramsey Auto Group and the Picciano and Van Duren families, and to our sponsors Ally, Ariyan Law, Central Avenue Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, Columbia Bank Foundation, Conroy Family, Cox Automotive, Diamond Elite, Elkins Family, Favaro Family, Felina, Kennedy Companies, Inc., Brian & Jodi Kunisch Family, Lakeland Bank, Malka Sports, Manning, Mazda, NJM Insurance Group, NJR HAT, Opici Family DistributIng, Parts Authority, Tom & Cherie Pauley, Rourke Family, ShopRites of Brookdale and Newark, Subaru, Volvo, Weiss Realty, and Withum.
