JCC group holds inaugural Red Carpet Event

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Self-advocates let their voices and talents be heard at the inaugural Red Carpet event hosted by JCC’S Special Advocacy Coalition on Dec. 2. The talent show and fundraiser raised $2,000 to help SPEAC establish a transportation fund for differently-abled adults to attend the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State Long Island Regional Conference.

“It was a fabulous day; the music was great and the artists brought their best work,” said SPEAC coordinator and advisor Leslie Feinberg. “It was great to see the smiling faces that were there.”

SPEAC is a community group for differently-abled, self-advocating adults to discuss issues of housing, transportation, employment, social opportunities and inclusion. Feinberg facilitates the group discussions at JCC.

President and self-advocate Ashley Gazes, along with the rest of the self-advocate officers, help lead the sessions. The Red Carpet event sparked out of one of these discussions.

“From Day One, we worked diligently as a team, whether it was going town to town to businesses asking for gift cards for the raffles or telling family about the event,” said Amy Lubliner, self-advocate and SPEAC’S vice president of programming. “We did all that, and then we all came together as one at the event.”

About 10 self-advocates performed, including headliner Tom Ryan, and sold their art at the talent show. Twenty baskets donated by local businesses were raffled to raise funds for the organization.

“The community came out, supported, applauded and chatted with the self-advocates and made them feel part of the community and that they should do this more often,” Friedberg said.