The HeartShare Family Comes Out in Force
for the 2022 HeartShare Spring Gala
Supporters,
celebs, and staffers welcome
Spring in style
NEW YORK, March 25, 2022 — “Good evening, HeartShare! Long time no
see!” Co-host Jim Kerr got right to the heart
of the matter as he greeted the crowd gathered at New
York
City’s
illustrious Ziegfeld Ballroom
for
the 2022
HeartShare Spring Gala on Monday, March 21.
Due to COVID-19, it was the nonprofit’s first
in-person Gala since 2019, but it more than made up
for two years without one.
A celebration of the HeartShare
Family, the event drew more than 400 HeartShare
supporters, Board Members, corporate sponsors,
partners, celebrities and staffers to a red-carpet
affair with all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood
premiere
beneath
HeartShare’s
name
in
lights on
the
Ziegfeld’s iconic marquee. The Gala was also viewed online by more than 100
virtual attendees.
Co-hosted by Emmy-winning “Good
Day New York” host Rosanna Scotto and
legendary
Q104.3 DJ
Jim
Kerr—both
longtime
HeartShare
Board
Members—the 2022 HeartShare Spring Gala
featured inspiring remarks by President and CEO
Bill Guarinello
and Board Chair
Paul
J.
Torre
and honored the achievements of three caring and
compassionate individuals committed to helping
people with autism and other developmental
disabilities live their best lives:
Cynthia
McFadden,
Senior
Legal
and
Investigative
Correspondent, NBC News, and
recipient of the Heart of a Champion Award, was
introduced by 13-time Emmy winner, “60 Minutes”
correspondent and dear friend Lesley Stahl,
who described McFadden as “the most dazzling and
most accomplished reporter in the universe… the Ted
Lasso of TV journalism… who proves that you can do a
stressful, high-powered job on a big stage and still
be kind.” In accepting an award with “heart” in the
title, McFadden noted that, “As a person who often
covers heartbreak, I take matters of the heart very
seriously... As I often said to my old pal
Barbara Walters, ‘You make the people you
interview cry. The
people I
interview
make
me
cry.’
Here’s the
truth
as
I know
it:
If
I feel
too
much, I
can’t do my job, and if I feel not enough, I’m not
doing my job. So, I try.”
Michael W. Castellano,
co-owner of Staten Island’s Supreme Italian Market,
accepted the Catherine White Achievement Award for
directing his passion and resources
into
helping
people
with
special
needs
and
for
channeling
the
success of his business into philanthropic
endeavors. “I’m just a guy from Staten Island,” he
said, “and to receive this award from HeartShare for
doing what I love doing truly blows me away… I am so
very humbled by your thoughtfulness and
kindness.”
Douglas P. Catalano,
Esq.,
partner
with
Clifton
Budd
&
DeMaria
and
recipient
of the HeartShare Visionary Award, chose to
let personal
photos do the talking.
After describing how he and his
wife Judi were inspired to support and contribute to
HeartShare by a grandson with autism, he stepped
aside as a slideshow of
him
and
his
family
with
his
grandson
played.
When
it
was over,
there
wasn’t
a
dry eye in the house.
The Gala played host to a
multitude of celebrity HeartShare supporters. In
attendance, in addition to Rosanna Scotto,
Jim Kerr, Cynthia McFadden and Lesley
Stahl,
were
Scotto’s
fellow
Fox
5
team
members
and past
honorees
Ines Rosales and Mike Woods;
Jeff Marchetti, star of “The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel” and “The Sopranos”; Dan Grimaldi,
also from “The Sopranos”; Harry Lennix from
“The
Blacklist”;
Maysoon
Zayid, comedian and
“General
Hospital”
star
who had the most-watched Ted Talk of 2014;
Niko Koutouvides, President of the NFL Alumni
and a former American football linebacker;
Stephen Schnetzer, veteran soap actor; Gina
Naomi Baez, actor, singer, songwriter and video
creator; Sam Carrell, owner of celebrity pups
Tinkerbelle and Belle; and last but certainly not
least, models, actors and professional divas
Tinkerbelle the Dog and Belle the Dog.
Adding unexpected star-power was Linda Dano,
Emmy- winning
daytime
TV
royalty
and
longtime
HeartShare Family member,
who
made a surprise appearance.
In between the awards and
acceptances, auctioneer CK Swett encouraged
attendees
to text donations,
bid
live
on
impressive
auction
items
and
peruse
the online Silent Auction. The Gala also
showcased two inspiring short films. The first,
“True Colors,” highlighted the healing power of
HeartShare’s ArtShare program at the Brooklyn Day
Habilitation Program as seen through the eyes of
Senior Program Coordinator and ArtShare volunteer
Edgardo Velez. The second film, a music video,
featured three women from the Queens Day Hab
Singers—Camille Tyson, Paula Samaroo
and Joanna Norris-Boyd— performing a
soul-shaking version of Rachel Platten’s
“Fight Song.” The performance inspired a one-minute
standing ovation for the trio, who were in
attendance.