Rockville Centre St. Pat’s parade names charities

The Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade Committee has chosen Long Island’s leading service provider for children and adults with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities, a Long Island provider of a “home-away-from-home” for the parents and siblings of hospitalized children and a national provider of service dogs for the severely disabled as the three charities it will financially support with the parade, scheduled for March 24. Each of these three charities depends upon donations to continue their good work.

“The Parade’s Board of Directors takes great care and exercises tremendous due diligence in selecting our three charities every year, as it is the most important thing we will do that year,” said Parade Committee President Sean O’Rourke. “This year we are extremely proud of the high quality of the three charities we will be supporting.”

Organizers say that since the Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade first stepped off in 1997, it has, over the course of 15 years, become one of the best attended and supported parades outside of New York City. In the 15 years, it has distributed more than $676,000 to 45 separate charities. This is in keeping its motto, ‘The Parade That Cares and Shares.”

The first of the charities chosen is the Association for Children with Down Syndrome (ACDS). Located in Plainview, ACDS was established more than 40 years ago and serves more than 700 individuals with developmental disabilities. ACDS is dedicated to providing lifetime resources of exceptional quality, innovation and inclusion for individuals with severe disorders, providing them with hope and support through all of life’s stages with a cycle of mutual service and support, and has become Long Island’s leading provider to such individuals.