2023

​

• Funded additional hippotherapy sessions for developmentally challenged boys from Brooklyn and from Levittown.

• Granted special Dialectical Behavioral Therapy sessions for an autistic girl from Long Island who was physically bullied at school.

• Supplemented tuition funds for a 2 boys from the Bronx whose family lost their home in 2019.

• Our "Adopt a Family for Easter" campaign helped a family with 4 kids in upstate NY that lost their home in a fire. We gave a gift basket and $1,000 in gift cards.

• Hippotherapy sessions were funded for a 7-year-old girl from Brooklyn with Angel man syndrome and for a 4-year-old girl from Long Island who is autistic and non-verbal.

• $3,835 went to purchasing upgrades and accessories for a power wheelchair for a 25-year-old NYC woman with cerebral palsy. 

• The IWL helps many autistic children attend special summer camp programs.  This year we have given $1,450 for a shadow helper to make camp possible for an 18-year old from NJ; and we donated $3,500 for an 8-year-old Long Island boy to attend 4 weeks at Camp Achieve.

• Funded $2,000 in sessions of occupational therapy for a 6-year-old boy from Baldwin, NY who suffers from ocular motor dysfunction, ADHD, and sensory processing disorders.

​

2022

​

• Supported hippotherapy for a 3-year-old girl from Merrick, NY to help her with non-verbal autism. 

• Granted $2,000 for speech therapy for an-eight-year-old boy from Bayport, NY with autism and ADHD.

• Donated $4,000 for post-surgery physical therapy for a 6-year-old girl from Oceanside, NY. She had corrective surgery for level 3 diplegic spasticity cerebral palsy because she was unable to walk.

• Gave $2,000 to a family from Brentwood, NY for occupational therapy for two autistic siblings.

• Supplemented family payments for a K1 enrichment therapy program for an autistic 6-year-old boy from Lynbrook, NY. 

• Bought a specialized keyboard for a 4-year-old boy from Rochester, NY with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.  The keyboard will allow him to access online classes.

• Granted $1,192.50 for specialized summer camp for an autistic 20-year-old from Califon, NJ.

• Paid for 15 hippotherapy sessions, ($1,350) for a 4-year old autistic boy from Levittown, NY.

• Donated $1,148 in fees for a summer violin program in Italy, for a 17-year-old girl from St. James, NY.  She has Poland syndrome and is visually impaired, but is also an accomplished violinist.

• Gave $4,500 towards an an adaptive bike for a 21-year-old girl from Staten Island with cerebral palsy.

• Granted $3,000 for hippotherapy sessions for a 5-year-old boy from Whitestone, NY with X-linked Myotubular myopathy.

• Funded 15 sessions of occupational therapy for a 5-year-old boy from Baldwin, NY who suffers from ocular motor dysfunction, ADHD, and sensory processing disorders.

• Provided $2,980 towards dental work with anesthesia for a an autistic 16-year-old boy from Nutley, NJ.

• Bought a specialized backup camera for a college-bound 18-year-old boy from New Hyde Park who is in a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, dystonia and dysarthria.

• Provided $900 for hippotherapy for a 7-year-old from Brooklyn with Angelman Syndrome.

• Contributed $3,400 towards a school term for a Bronx family who struggled with eviction and bankruptcy during the pandemic.

• Supported a seven-year-old autistic boy from Commack, NY with $4,000 for occupational therapy.

• Paid $770 for hippotherapy for a 5-year-olf Brooklyn girl who has spinal muscular atrophy.

• Bought a $5,000 floatation device for a ten-year-old boy from Yonkers.  Swim therapy helps him with his cerebral palsy, seizure disorder and autism.

• Helped a five-year-old girl from Selden, NY with $1,825 towards hippotherapy. She is making progress progress recovering from a kidney transplant and working with hearing loss, diabetes, and global developmental delay.

• Granted $2,000 for occupational therapy copays for a nine-year-old autistic boy from St. James, NY. 

• Bought a prom dress for an 18-year-old autistic girl from Ocean County, NJ as part of our annual adopt-a-child for Easter program.

• Paid $1,150 for a shadow helper to allow an autistic boy to attend Camp Ruach in Martinsville, NJ.

​

2021

​

• Granted $155,000 to 11 special needs organizations including: Breakthrough Intensive Physical Therapy, Islandia, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; ACDS, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NYC, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; and Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY.

• Gave a Christmas gift certificate towards an Apple watch for an eleven-year-old dyslexic girl from Pearl River, NY.

• Donated $3,000 for therapy sessions for a 2-year old girl from Nesconset, NY. She in non-ambulatory, suffered from seizures from the day she was born, and has already undergone two brain surgeries. 

• Gave $1,200 in gift cards to a family that the League originally helped after they lost their father on 9/11.

• Bought a $1,850 special feeding chair for a 30-year-old man with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Deer Park, NY.

• Our Easter recipient this year was a 4-year-old boy from Woodridge, NJ whose father passed away suddenly at the age of 38. The boy received gift cards from Target and Amazon.

• Funded 15 hippotherapy sessions for a 4-year-old autistic boy from Levittown, NY; and 10 speech therapy sessions for a 17-year-old autistic boy from Islip, NY.

• Provided $3,000 for hippotherapy sessions for a 5-year-old boy from Whitestone, NY with X-linked Myotubular myopathy.

• Made a $5,000 partial payment to for a surgical procedure to correct Poland Syndrome for a 16-year-old girl from St. James, NY.

• Bought a specialized, $3,950 bike for a 6-year-old girl from Commack, NY with a rare disorder called CTNNB1 Syndrome.

• Gave $975 for physical therapy sessions to a girl with spastic quad cerebral palsy from Oakdale, NY.

• Donated $1,500 towards a special laptop for a 27-year-old with autism from Old Tappan, NJ.

• Provided $4,000 in funds for intensive physical therapy sessions for a 4-year-old boy from West Babylon, NY for help with his congenital heart defect and hypotonia.

• Gave $4,000 for specialized occupational therapy for a 6-year-old boy from Commack, NY with autism and ADHD.

• Granted $900 for hippotherapy sessions for a 5-year old girl with spinal muscular atrophy, from Brooklyn, NY

• Bought a $1,580 laptop for a 14-year-old autistic boy from Toms River, NJ.

• Paid $4,937 for a new activity chair for a 6-year-old girl from Wantagh, NY who suffers from peri ventricular leukomalacia, cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia.

• Sponsored $3,500 in swim therapy sessions to supplement those paid by insurance for a 19-year-old boy from Larchmont, NY who had a serious diving accident.

• Donated $5,000 for oral surgery for an 18-year-old autistic boy from Selden, NY.

​

2020

​          

• Donated a special training toilet for a 10-year-old boy from Madison, NJ who has cerebral palsy ($2,442).

• Bought an adaptive bike for a nine-year-old, autistic girl from West Chazy, NY ($1,226).

• Granted 10 hippotherapy sessions for a five-year-old boy from Brooklyn who has cerebral palsy ($900).

• Paid for a balance beam and an adaptive bike for a three-year-old girl from Tarrytown, NY. She suffers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy and global brain injury which occurred during birth ($1,100).

• Bought a $6,750 outdoor compatible wheelchair for a 7-year-old girl from St. James, NY who was born with spinal muscular atrophy.

• Donated $55,000 to 11 special needs organizations including: Breakthrough Intensive Physical Therapy, Islandia, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; ACDS, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NYC, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; and Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY

• Paid for 48 swim sessions to help a one-and-a-half-year-old boy from Massapequa who has a lymphatic system malformation. The swimming helps to clear his lymph system ($3,000).

• Bought furniture for 6-year-old autistic twin boys from Oceanside, NY ($2,510).

• Paid for a special toilet seat kit for a 10-year-old boy from Madison, NJ with cerebral palsy ($2,440).

• Ordered a special tricycle for a non-verbal, autistic, eleven-year-old girl from Barnegat, NJ ($370).

• Gave $850 for hippotherapy sessions to a 9-year-old girl from Huntington with a chromosomal abnormality.

• Sent 54 families $500 gift cards for groceries and general needs, through a special Covid-19 grant program, made possible by the Francesco and Mary Giambelli Foundation.

• Arranged for speech therapy sessions for an 11-year-old boy from Bethpage with autism and speech apraxia ($3,740). 

• Paid $2,000 for hippotherapy sessions for a nine-year-old boy from Hicksville.  He suffers from developmental delays, seizures and scoliosis.

• Arranged a $2,000 down payment for multiple neurofeedback sessions. This new therapy is helping an eight-year-old boy from North Carolina control his seizures.

• Gave $900 in hippotherapy sessions to a three-year-old girl from Brooklyn with spinal muscular atrophy.

• Helped a 15-year-old autistic boy from Martinsville, NJ go to summer camp with a shadow helper ($800).

• Paid $3,000 towards an adaptive bike for a 6-year-old girl from Massapequa with a rare genetic disorder called Emanuel Syndrome.

• Sent an iPad with case ($335) to a wheelchair bound 14-year-old boy from Amityville with multiple disabilities.  He can now participate in online learning. 

• Purchased a $1,300 adaptive bike for a 6-year-old boy from Maspeth who has cerebral palsy.

• Donated $4,700 to a help a family, whose autistic children are approaching adulthood, prepare for legal guardianship and estate planning.

• Enabled an autistic 8-year-old boy to participate in activities at a Yorktown Heights facility that provides social, therapeutic and recreational services for special needs children ($500).

• Donated approximately $5,000 to help two children from the Bronx return to school after a family tragedy caused them to be temporarily homeless and lose their belongings.

• Continued support for $370 per week in special speech therapy sessions for a six-year-old boy from Bronxville, NY.

​

2019

​

• Donated $900 for 10 hippotherapy sessions for a three-year-old from Brooklyn with rare chromosomal syndromes and scoliosis.

• Supported $2,000 in physical therapy for a five-year-old boy from Seaford, NY.

• Funded an $1,800 computer coding jobs training program for an autistic 18-year-old from Coram, NY.

• Gave $1,250 for physical therapy sessions to a five-year-old boy from Hicksville, NY who suffers from developmental delay, seizures and scoliosis. 

• For our annual "Adopt-a-Child-for-Christmas" program, the IWL spread  
  holiday cheer to a four-year-old boy from New York who lost younger 
  twin siblings in a tragic accident this past summer. The League presented him with gift cards to Dave and Busters and Chuck E. Cheese, plus goggles and swim lessons.  His older siblings also received gift cards.

• Donated $1,000 for a 5-year-old girl to receive hippotherapy in Commack, NY to help with her cerebral palsy and CTNNB1 Syndrome.

• Funded swim lessons for two brothers from Farmingdale, NY - one with autism and the other cerebral palsy.

• Helped three college-age siblings on Staten Island continue their schooling by funding a lease for a car they could all share. This family originally came to the League for help after Hurricane Sandy. The father had passed away and the mother is also fighting cancer.

• Gave $1,500 for co-pays at an ABA therapy center in Brooklyn for a 4-year-old autistic boy from Huntington, NY.

• Aided a 3-year-old non verbal, non ambulatory ex micro preemie with specialized $3,500 in physical therapy sessions on Long Island. 

• Funded a program of 20 intensive PROMPT speech therapy sessions ($3,700) for a 6-year-old from Bronxville, NY who suffers from apraxia and low muscle tone, including the muscles of the mouth.

• Gave $4,500 for 7 weeks of camp, for two siblings with ODD and other developmental problems, from Coram, NY.

• Donated $5,500 for a fence to protect an autistic boy in Selden, NY - after the family had to relocate to a different home.

• Purchased a $1,300 transport chair for a 16-year-old girl who had brain surgery to help control seizures.

• Helped a three-year-old boy with congenital heart defects and hypotonia with sessions at a special gym called Keep Moving Forward, for $2,000.

• Bought a $425 special needs stroller for a girl from Manorville, NY with Down Syndrome.

• Gave $1,000 to supplement a Long Island family's online effort to raise funds for a service dog from ECAD. Their 20-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy, uses the dog to help her go to college.

• Donated $155,000 to 12 special needs organizations including: Breakthrough Intensive Physical Therapy, Islandia, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; ACDS, Plainview, NY; HHBO, East Northport, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NYC, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; and Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY

​

2018

​

• Gave $175,000 to 12 special needs organizations including: Breakthrough Intensive Physical Therapy, Islandia, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; ACDS, Plainview, NY; HHBO, East Northport, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NYC, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; and Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY

• Purchased an $1,800 adaptive tricycle for a boy in Massapequa with severe autism and intellectual impairment.

• For it’s annual Adopt-a-Family-for-Christmas program, the League sent gift cards to: a family in Chico, CA with two teens that lost their house to the Camp fire; a 3-year-old boy in Massapequa with Cerebral Palsy, epilepsy and other disorders; and to a 2-year-old in upstate NY who recently lost his mother. The boy in Massapequa also received $1,750 for physical therapy sessions.

• Helped a family in Massapequa with a severely autistic boy. Several comforting home items were purchased, along with a bike and stroller. Total aid provided was $3,000.

• Paid for 15 physical therapy sessions ($2,400) for a four-year-old girl from Smithtown with a rare bilateral foot deformity called Vertical Talus.

• Supported 10 hippotherapy sessions ($900) for a boy from Brooklyn with Cerebral Palsy.

• Provided $1,500 to the family of an autistic boy from Fresh Meadows, for swim lessons and speech therapy.

• Gave $4,700 towards special intensive therapy sessions for children from Coram and Commack, NY with hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

• Supported 10 hippotherapy sessions for a Brooklyn boy born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, and for a girl in Ronkonkoma with 22Q11.2 deletion syndrome, ($900 each).

• Paid $700 for a shadow helper to allow an autistic boy to attend Camp Ruach in Bridgewater, NJ.

• Donated $2,000 in gift cards to a boy whose father helped clean up debris at the World Trade Center sites. The father is currently in treatment for advanced cancer.

• The IWL continued its tradition of providing funds for summer camp experiences for special needs children.  This year, we have donated more than $11,000 to 6 families, helping 8 children.

• Purchased a $3,000 specialized stroller for a 12-year-old boy from Long Island, NY who has multiple developmental disorders and is non-ambulatory and non-verbal.

• Paid $7,110 towards a loan for a wheelchair-accessible van for a Brooklyn woman with Multiple Sclerosis, who is about to become a mother.

• Supported $3,745 in special school costs for a girl with learning disabilities in New Rochelle, NY.

• Obtained $3,000 adaptive tricycles for two tri-state-area families whose children suffer from Cerebral Palsy and other ailments.

• Provided $1,550 in camp fees for two girls who lost their father, a NY firefighter, in Iraq.

• Donated $750 in gift cards to a family that lost their home in the California wildfires last year.  Their 11-year-old son has Down Syndrome.

• Purchased a special cooling vest for a boy from Mt. Kisco with Dravet’s Syndrome whose seizures are made more frequent by hot weather.

• Gave $3,400 for 4 weeks of summer camp for an autistic boy from Medford, NY.

• Provided $3,000 towards the fee for training a Long Island family’s dog to be a therapy dog for their daughter who has autism and Microcephalic, Verbal Apraxia, Sensory Disorder Type Developmental Coordination Disorder.

• Supported summer camp for Long Island twins with Hyperkinesis & ADHD and Sensory Integration Disorder, ($2,000)

• Gave a $1,000 gift card to a NJ family with a newborn that lost its father and husband to a brain tumor.

• Supported 10 hippotherapy sessions ($900) for a 3-year-old from Brooklyn who has been diagnosed with severe sensory dysfunction, vestibular insecurities, and as non-verbal and lacking all important protective responses.

• Donated a portion of the cost for a special fence ($3,000) to allow an autistic boy from New Rochelle to play outside.

• Helped supply $2,500 in specialty items and follow-up medical care to a 20-year-old who is legally blind and also needed to replace surgically implanted hearing aides.

 

2017

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• Gave almost $2,500 in gifts to seven families, through our annual Adopt-a-Family for Christmas program.

• Helped a Staten Island family with tuition for the College of Staten Island, for a son with scoliosis, food allergies, and asthma. The IWL contributed $1,722

• Contributed $1,000 for five-year-old twin boys with developmental problems to attend a specialized class at Gold Medal Gymnastics in Rocky Point, NY.

• Paid a $4,250 dental service loan taken by a family from New Rochelle, NY. Their autistic son needed extensive root canal therapy, under general anesthesia.

• Gave $1,804 for bilateral orthotics for a young boy from Hicksville, NY who suffers from developmental delay, seizures and scoliosis.

• Granted $4,600 for a special travel wheelchair, for a 10-year-old boy from Bronxville with metachromatic leukodystrophy.

• Purchased a $3,400 outdoor playset, with an adaptive swing, for a young adult with a rare genetic disorder, Sanfilippo Syndrome. We thank the Columbus Citizens Foundation for funding most of this gift.

• Enabled three families to send their kids to the special camp program at Speech Language Pathology in Motion in Hauppauge, NY, with a donation of $2,350. Also donated $900 for boy with Dravet’s Syndrome to attend a camp program at Endeavor Therapeutic Horsemanship in Mt. Kisco, NY.

• Purchased a $2,000 ionic foot bath to help an autistic girl, who also has immune dysregulation and metabolic disorders, to detoxify her body and tolerate the everyday chemicals and allergens in her environment.

• Donated $2,500 for two twins with hyperkinesis, ADHD and Sensory Integration Disorder for 4 weeks at Camp Wee Luv ’em in Northport, NY.

• Paid $975 for a special summer camp session for a girl from Coram, NY with intellectual disability.

• Helped two children with cerebral palsy obtain adaptive tricycles costing $3,000-$4,000 each.

• Gave $300 in food gift cards to a single mom in upstate NY to help her and her son celebrate Easter. He has autism and Celiac disease.

• Paid $700 for a shadow helper to allow an autistic boy to attend Camp Ruach in Bridgewater, NJ.

• 14 Special Needs grants, totaling $164,000, to: Jewels Institute, New Rochelle, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NYC, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY; Abilities Therapy Network, Midland Park, NJ; Alpine Learning Center, Paramus, NJ; Catholic Charities, NYC, NY; and Christopher’s Voice, New Rochelle, NY

 

2016

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• Negotiated and paid a $6,750 settlement with a drug company, for an autistic child undergoing infusion therapy for immune system deficiencies.

• Donated toys and gifts for Christmas to children at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY.

• Gave $1000 in gift cards to a Long Island family that lost a husband and father who was in law enforcement.

• Raised more than $26,000 at our annual luncheon to help a Staten Island family complete the purchase of a customized van for their son, who has multiple disabilities and is medically fragile.

• Bought a $1,500 specialized, adult stroller for a 14-year-old boy with severe autism.

• Paid for special needs swim classes at the Great South Bay YMCA, and a camp program at Speech Language Pathology in Motion, for a four-year-old autistic boy in Brentwood, NY (total $1,500).

• 2 Special Needs grants totaling $17,000 to Catholic Charities of Manhattan and Yellow Boots Long Term Recovery Group of Staten Island.

• Contributed $1,500 for math and science tutors so a Staten Island girl with Epstein-Barr can catch up on missed schoolwork.

• Provided $3,000 for twins from West Islip, NY with Hyperkinesis, ADHD and Sensory Integration Disorder to go to 5 weeks of summer camp at Early Discoveries Center in Ronkonkoma.

• Donated $2,700 for 10 weeks of speech therapy sessions at Speech Language Pathology in Motion of Hauppauge, NY for an autistic child.

• Paid $700 for a shadow helper to allow an autistic boy to attend Camp Ruach in Bridgewater, NJ.

• “Adopted” a family for the Easter holiday, sending approximately $700 in gift certificates to stores such as Disney, ToysRUs and Build a Bear, plus a Nintendo Wii game set and a food basket from Williams-Sonoma.  The child required a prosthetic foot due to a complication from a rare blood disorder during surgery. The IWL also donated to this family through the Yellow Boots Long Term Recovery Group, (see above).

• Donated $400 for riding classes at Great Strides in Long Island for an 11-year-old girl with intellectual disability.

• Paid $600 for copays for leukemia treatments for an 8-year-old boy in Brooklyn.

• 14 Special Needs grants, totaling $153,000, to: Jewels Institute, New Rochelle, NY; Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; Catholic Charities, NY, NY; Speech Language Pathology in Motion, Hauppauge, NY; Abilities Therapy Network, Midland Park, NJ; Yellow Boots Long Term Recovery Group, Staten Island, NY.

 

2015

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• 10 Special Needs grants, totaling $152,000, to: Jewels Institute, New Rochelle, NY; Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• Donated $7,300 towards the cost of a service dog from ECAD for an autistic child in Wantagh, NY.

• Paid $2,000 for an industrial-grade swing set for a large 12-year-old child with autism in Hawthorne, NJ.

• Contributed $4,400 towards a whole-house generator as backup for children who sleep aided by machines.

• Paid for a new, specialized stroller and car seat for an autistic child from Mahopac, NY.

• Gave $4,500 towards the tuition for a Long Island child for a special program at NYU Summer Program for Kids

• Donated $1,500 in gift cards for a family whose home was destroyed by a water main break.

• Paid for online college classes for a woman who’s education was interrupted by treatments for cancer.

• Gave $3,500 towards a stair lift to make a home accessible for a bride with multiple sclerosis.

• Bought $350 worth of toys and gifts for a child in Brookhaven, NY whose father was a Department of Corrections officer killed in a skydiving accident.

• Donated three iPad minis to a classroom in Staten Island for autistic students.

• Gave $1,500 in gift cards for groceries, books and other necessities to a single mother in Suffern, NY who is raising a child with autism and Celiac disease.

 

2014

​

• 12 Special Needs Grants, totaling $154,000, to: Abilities Therapy Network, Midland Park, NJ; Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Jewels Institute, New Rochelle, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• Provided $1,100 for a child with autism and Down Syndrome to get an assessment at Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg, NY.

• Purchased an $8,000 motorized Wheelchair-to-Water Pool Lift for a Staten Island girl with Spastic Quadriparesis Cerebral Palsy and a seizure disorder, so that she can use a pool for therapy.

• Sent $1,500 in gift cards for daily necessities to an 18-year-old from Queens who, despite being legally blind and disadvantaged, was selected for a scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College.

• Paid $6,645 for a family in Lodi, NJ to improve the safety and accessibility of their home for a daughter with Tuberous Sclerosis, including a new driveway. Also provided funds for air conditioning.

• Provided $6,000 for autistic twins from Hauppauge, NY to go to 6 weeks summer camp at Hidden Pond Day Camp.

• Provided $2,500 for twins from West Islip, NY with Hyperkinesis, ADHD and Sensory Integration Disorder to go to 5 weeks of summer camp at Early Discoveries Center in Ronkonkoma.

• “Adopted” two families for the Easter holiday, sending gift certificates to stores such as Stop & Shop, Costco, Walmart, Kohl’s and Walgreens, plus a Williams-Sonoma gift basket and a Kindle Fire tablet. One family from Manorville, NY has a 5-year-old girl with Down Syndrome. She also suffers from leukemia and a heart defect. The other family from Staten Island, NY has two sons, ages 12 and 14, who have Asperger’s Syndrome, asthma and lymphonodular hyperplasia. Each family received approximately $1,500 in gifts.

 

2013

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• 10 Special Needs Grants, totaling $132,000, to: Autism Think Tank, Warren, NJ; Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• Purchased mini iPads for 6 children who receive therapy at the Developmental Disabilities Institute on Long Island, to help unlock their potential to communicate.

• Purchased an iPad2 for a 14-year-old from Selden, NY with Agenesis Corpus Collosium birth defect, migration defect, and Walker Syndrome.

• Paid for the installation and one year’s service for an ADT alarm system to prevent an autistic child from Denville, NJ from leaving  home by himself.

• Adopted a family of five children in a single-parent household for Christmas, and gave them $1,000 in gift cards to stores including Staples, Kohl’s, Toys R Us, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Rite Aid.

• Paid $3,000 towards a special stem cell therapy treatment for two siblings from Hauppauge, NY, ages 8 and 11, with Cockayne Syndrome.

• Bought an EMP, 3 Wave muscle stimulating device for a Brooklyn girl who was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident.

• Gave a $2,200 grant to a Long Island student who lost a father to violence.

• Donated $500 gift cards and groceries for three siblings with auto immune deficiencies on Long Island who suffered losses from Hurricane Sandy.

• Bought special medical equipment for a child in Brooklyn with Rett Syndrome, $930.

• Sent twins from Long Island with hyperkinesis & ADHD to Early Discovery camp, $2,600.

• Financial assistance for occupational therapy for a New Jersey three-year-old with Primary Immune Deficiency & Pervasive Developmental Delay, $1,250.

• Helped to fund assessment fees for a 23 month old Autistic child from Martinsville, NJ at the Autism Think Tank of NJ, which diagnoses complicated cases, $1,500.

• Funded 2 weeks of summer camp at Hidden Pond Day Camp for a pair of 11 year-old autistic twins from Hauppauge, NY, at a cost of $4,123

• Purchased a special feeding chair for a 9 year-old quadriplegic child from Atlantic Beach, NY with Cerebral Palsy for $4,122

• Bought a $500 gift certificate for special gluten-free foods for a 2 year-old child from Oradell, NJ undergoing chemotherapy in Philadelphia

• Funded $2,000 of additional training sessions for a therapy dog purchased for an autistic boy, a former recipient.

 

2012

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• 10 Special Needs Grants, totaling $138,000, to: Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Developmental Disabilities Institute, Smithtown, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• A $10,000 donation was made by the IWL’s Lily Amato Fund specifically to be used for 4 yr old Harrington Park, NJ girl who is battling a neuroblastoma. Her mother broke her neck in a diving accident and is paralyzed from the waist down.

• Sent 6 year old twin boys from West Islip who suffer from Sensory Disorders and Hyperkinesis to Early Discoveries Summer Camp for 4 weeks each at a total cost of $2,339.

• Purchased an iPad (plus two years insurance on the device) to enable a 2 year old boy with Cerebral Palsy from Little Neck, New York to communicate: $729.

• Sent 8 yr. old twin boys who are autistic to Hidden Pond Day Camp at a cost of $4,123.

• Settled an outstanding surgical bill, not covered by insurance, for an 11 year old boy from Queens in the amount of $10,000 from the specially dedicated Lily Amato Fund. Also adopted this boy and his brother for Easter, providing gift certificates and food/Easter baskets.

• Donated $1,000 toward a Memorial Fund set up by the Federal Drug Agents Foundation for the children of Special Agent John Capano, of Long Island, who was killed in an armed robbery.

• Paid $5,000 after-school therapy costs for a 7 year old girl from Tenafly, NJ diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

• Purchased $182 worth of disposable and reusable swim-diapers for an 8 ½ year old girl from Long Island diagnosed with Down Syndrome and Leukemia (in remission)

• Committed to pay half the rent through six months ($5400) for a Copiague, LI family with four young children under 6, whose house burned down.

• Purchased labradoodle therapy dog and training sessions for a 12 year-old autistic boy from Waldwick, NJ who also suffers from seizure disorder. Total cost of $4,250 was offset by a generous $1000 donation from an anonymous donor who wished to contribute to this recipient’s needs.

 

2011

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• 10 Special Needs Grants, totaling $120,000, to: Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Alpine Learning Center, Paramus, NJ; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• Paid four months rent in arrears- $7,200 – for a Copiague, LI family with four small children whose house burned down last December.

• A gift card for Microsoft XBox and educational software in the amount of $750 from the IWL’s Lily Amato Fund, was presented to a 7 yr old boy with leukemia from Holtsville, NY.

• Sent $950 to the Sunday Program at KISS Mid-Island Y JCC for an 11 yr. old Northport boy with multiple special needs.

• Purchased special needs socks ($168) to cover the leg braces of an 11 year-old Staten Island boy with multiple disabilities. Also sent a gift certificate for $300 from Costco for Depends for this boy, who is incontinent.

• Purchased a $2000 special needs Swift Stroller with belt, tray, harness, ankle supports and basket for a 6 and a half year old boy with Cerebral Palsy from Oceanside, NY.

• Purchased a laptop and special needs bike, totaling $834, for a 10-year old Ramsey, NJ girl with Cerebral Palsy

• Adopted for Easter 3 brothers from Wantagh, LI, 6, 11 and 13, whose police officer father was struck by a truck and killed on the L.I.E. The League sent them a Easter Basket from Dylan’s Candy and $500 gift certificate to Modell’s.

• Sent a 12 year-old Lindenhurst, NY boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, to Hofstra Special Needs Summer Camp for two weeks at a cost of $1600.

• Contributed $4,405 toward the purchase of a special positioning chair for a 12 year old Flushing, NY girl with a rare metabolic disorder.

• Adopted for Christmas a mother and 15 year-old daughter from Tom’s River, NJ, whose husband and father, a Ground Zero volunteer and recent victim, by providing two $500 gift certificates to Target and Shop Rite.

• Adopted for Christmas, 3 yr. old twin brothers from Staten Island, NY (one of whom is being treated for brain cancer) by presenting a basket and Toys R Us and The Gap gift cards in the amount of $250 each.

• Adopted for Christmas a family with 4 children under 4 yrs. old whose house burned down in Copiague, NY. To replace some of their belongings, the League gave the family gift cards for $1000 each from Babys R Us and Target.

• Contributed $3,000 toward the construction of a wheelchair lift enclosure for an 8 year old girl from Staten Island, NY afflicted with Cerebral Palsy.

• Paid outstanding bill of $542 for services rendered to a 6 year old girl from Bayside, NY who suffers from Down Syndrome.

 

2010

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• 11 Special Needs Grants, totaling $112,000, to: Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Alpine Learning Center, Paramus, NJ; Dancing Dreams, Bayside, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY; Shooting Stars Gymnastics, Far Hills, NJ.

• Gave a $4900 scholarship for one semester at The New School – Mannes Preparatory Division, for a 9 year old autistic girl from Rochelle Park, NJ.

• Gave a Special Needs grant in the amount of $5000 to the AHRC’s Camp Loyaltown in Plainview, NY for recipients of Italian descent.

• Sent a 2-year-old autistic boy from Paterson, NJ for an 11 week session at Shooting Stars Gymnastics in Wyckoff, NJ – costing $458.50.

• Donated $2500 toward dog-training services for a 17 year old brain-injury victim from Brooklyn at East Coast Assistance Dogs, Inc. of Torrington, CT.

• Sent $1545 to Association for Help of Retarded Children’s Camp Loyaltown, for a 9 year old Levittown, L.I. boy with Autism.

• Purchased a $1000 gift certificate to Shop Rite for a family with four children the IWL adopted at Easter, whose father was electrocuted.

• Christmas Adoptees, two brothers, 6 and 1, from New Jersey, who have a genetic brain disorder: gave $1100 in gift certificates to Toys R Us, B & N, Disney Store, The Gap, Best Buy and a Wii for rehab.

• Purchased $500 gift certificate to Wild By Nature health food store for a Long Island family with three autistic sons who suffer from food allergies. Paid $525 for occupational therapy for one 6-year old son.

 

2009

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• 8 Special Needs Grants, totaling $85,000, to: Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach, Old Bethpage, NY; Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome, Plainview, NY; Rocking Horse Rehab, W. Orange, NJ; ACLD Kramer Learning Center, Bay Shore, NY; Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, NY, NY; Children’s Skin Disease Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA; Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Ctr., Monroe Township, NJ; Angela’s House, E. Moriches/Smithtown, NY.

• $7,500 for physical therapy to a 47 year old bed-ridden male, who has to be cared for like a child.

• Purchased a $1324.94 bedroom set which the family had to cancel due to financial hardship for a 2 ½ year old girl from Mastic, LI, suffering from a rare form of liver cancer.

• Donated two bicycles with toddler seats, helmets and a bike rack costing $1412 were generously donated by a single member of the League for brother and sister: 2 ½ year old boy and 6 year old girl from Hauppauge, who suffer from a rare neurodegenerative disease.

• Contributed $4000 toward the purchase of a $16,000 specially-extended van for the three adult children of a Kings Park, LI family who are all wheelchair bound.

• Donated $1445 for finger therapy sessions and $535 for orthopedic treatment for a 6 year old girl from Toms River, NJ who suffers fromPrader-Willi Syndrome.

• Custom Freedom Bicycle, $4203 and special chair, $284 for a 7 ½ year old girl from Staten Island with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy.

• Theratogs Vest, $406, for a 1 year old boy from Queens, NY who suffers from multiple developmental problems

• $1000 donation to the Ava Loren Barbarino Trust for a 6 month old girl with Charge Syndrome and Severe Immunodeficiency (Rest in Peace).

• Custom Freedom Bicycle, $2343, for a 4 year old boy who suffers from CP from Atlantic Beach, NY.

• $423.50 to Shooting Stars Gymnastics for 6 ½ year old Autistic boy from Hawthorne, NJ.

• Easter gift of $2000 gift certificate to Babys R Us for a Staten Island family with newborn quintuplets

• Easter gift of $1000 gift certificates to Old Navy, Modell’s and Macy’s for two Brooklyn children whose father was crushed to death in a work-related accident.

• Two weeks, $1350 Hofstra University Summer Camp for a Lindenhurst boy with Aspergers, ODD, OCD, ADD.