Dinner in the Dark benefits community causes

The Rockville Centre Lions Club held its sixth annual Dinner in the Dark event at the Hempstead Golf and Country Club on June 3 to help raise awareness to the challenges of those afflicted with blindness.

The evening’s honorees were Rockville Centre residents Christopher and Mary Beth Kearns, who have served as local leaders for more than 30 years. Guests tried on blindfolds at their tables as part of a tradition to understand what blind people go through on a daily basis.

Though the club did not reveal final fundraising totals for this year, Event Co-Chair Lisa Spatz, said the event had raised more than $100,000 in its first five years.

A portion of the event’s proceeds benefited the Rockville Centre Little League Challenger League, as well as the playground to be located adjacent to the Hickey Park ball field on the corner of North Forest Avenue and Sunrise Highway. The all-inclusive park would feature equipment to accommodate all the village’s children, including those with special needs, and would be named after longtime Recreation Superintendent Anthony Brunetta, widely known as Mr. B, who died last year.

“It gets bigger and bigger,” Spatz said of the event, adding that the vision of the special-needs-accessible park has motivated more people to contribute. “…Everyone from the village comes and helps us.”