Heritage Christian Services Honors Special OlympicsHeritage

January 2005
Christian Services Annual Dinner was attended by 1500 clients, parents, volunteers and sponsors, the largest attendance ever. The event celebrating 20 years of service was held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on October 7th. 2004 is a special year for Heritage Christian Services because it is the agency’s 20th anniversary marking the first home that was opened on Jennifer Lane in Webster on June 24, 1984. Emcee of the event was Ginny Ryan long-time anchor for WOKR-TV13 News. Background for the annual dinner was a snapshot video of activities that Heritage Christian Services has engaged in during the past year. Musical entertainment was provided by the Heritage Christian Services Staff Choir, “Partners in Music.”Memorial Awards, the Amy Marie Tessoni, Scott “Trucker” Wright and Jobina Bruinsma Award were presented to dedicated volunteers for their years of service. Among the awards was the Community Partner Award presented to Special Olympics New York-Genesee Region. Accepting the award were Regional Director, David McEneany and development and pr director, Marian Turner. Heritage Christian Services has provided opportunities for their athletes in a variety of Special Olympics Sports. Special Olympics sports coordinator, Kelly Nash in presenting the award sited the many benefits of working with the Special Olympics athletes and staff over the years and the growth of participation from Heritage Christian Services in Special Olympics Sports. Kelly Nash was a recent recipient of the Bill Gray Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to program awarded at the annual dinner for Special Olympics. Ron Little, Financial officer joined Kelly in presenting a framed photo collage of Heritage Christian athletes in action at Special Olympics events.In accepting the award, David McEneany sited the many benefits of the partnership with Heritage Christian in light of the growth of Special Olympics Sports in the region. Heritage Christian Services has been an outstanding partner in all competitive events offering first class training and competition to their athletes. Heritage has shown its pride in Special Olympics by providing uniforms for their competitors giving them additional self esteem. He sited the growth in the Equestrian program and the hosting of the regional event at Heritage Christian stables. He also recognized the Special Olympics athletes from Heritage Christian Services who competed in the recent Festival of Sport in Greece in May. He commended Heritage for their forward looking approach to new demonstration opportunities were athletes took advantage of an outrigger canoeing opportunity and the participation of Heritage Christian athletes in the newly formed rainbow guard team directed by Lauren Lincoln and students from the Eastridge winter guard team.Special Olympics New York-Genesee Region was honored to receive the community partner award as Marian Turner, director of development pointed out, “Heritage Christian Services is a community of athletes, parents and staff that always show an incredible spirit of dedication and caring to their clients always making sure that they have a first rate experience. Their logo says it all…empowering people, enriching lives.”