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The
New York Foundation for Eldercare (NYFE) Recognition Dinner,
held to honor
outstanding advocates for care of seniors
on Thursday, October
29, at 6:00 pm at The 3 West Club in New York City, the focus
was fundraising for a program that educates seniors on
vaccinations against shingles, a painful disease, and provides
free vaccinations.
The honorees were
Eva-Maria Tausig,
Board Member and Treasurer of the New York Foundation for
Eldercare; Lorayne C. Fiorillo, a Managing Director at
Wells Fargo, where she is the investment manager of the NYFE
portfolio; and Ashley A. Romano, a National Director of
Patient Experience and Research Development at CareRite Centers,
LLC, which operates skilled nursing facilities. Caryn Resnick,
Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department for the
Aging, spoke at the event
Dr. Gary J. Kennedy, M.D., Director, Division of
Geriatric Psychiatry, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, presented the Leo and Julia
Forchheimer Lifetime Achievement Award to Eva-Maria Tausig.
Michael Tietz, President of the New York
Foundation for Eldercare, presented the Margaret Tietz
Leadership Award to Lorayne C. Fiorillo, Managing Director at
Wells Fargo,
where she is the investment manager of the NYFE portfolio.
Akiva Rudner, Chief Operating Officer of CareRite
Centers, LLC presented the NYFE Community Service award to
Ashley Romano,
a
National Director of Patient Experience and Research Development
at CareRite Centers.
The
event focused on a shingles education and vaccination program
for seniors, which NYFE launched at naturally occurring
retirement communities in The Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem,
working with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and the City
of New York's Department for the Aging. The two-part program
features
education sessions
to raise awareness of shingles
among
elderly New Yorkers, followed by
vaccination
for
those who sign up. NYFE's support of this program enables
seniors to receive shingles vaccinations free of
charge.
Shingles is a viral infection that may affect as many as one in
three people and one million people annually in the U.S. It is
caused by the chickenpox virus (varicella zoster) and
causes a painful rash that may take up to four weeks to clear
up. People with weakened immune systems, such as seniors, may
suffer even more severe cases.
Funds raised at the NYFE recognition dinner will support the
expansion of the shingles program to additional locations in all
five boroughs.
"The
New York Foundation for Eldercare was delighted to recognize
the financial leadership and guidance of Eva-Maria Tausig and
Lorayne C. Fiorillo. Their thoughtful investment strategy has
enabled NYFE's endowment to grow, making it possible to launch
innovative programs such as the shingles initiative, which we
now want to expand to reach even more seniors. In addition, we
are very excited to recognize Ashley Romano for her innovative
approach to attentive care to residents of nursing homes and
their family members," said Michael F. Tietz, President of the
Foundation.
The
event was co-chaired by Gary Kennedy, MD and Marc Benhuri, DMD,
and featured an art auction (both live and silent) of works by
more than a dozen internationally recognized artists, including
Maurice Utrillo, donated by Weinstein Gallery of San Francisco.
The evening was emceed by Pat Battle,
Emmy award-winning co-anchor for NBC-TV's
Weekend Today in New York and senior New Jersey
correspondent. The event included a
musical performance by members of Concerts in Motion,
a NYFE grantee, whose ensembles
of professional musicians and talented youth perform uplifting
live music concerts at no charge for people in nursing
homes, hospitals, naturally occurring retirement communities,
senior residences, Veterans Administration hospitals and other
such venues, and for homebound seniors. Performers included
Concerts in Motion's
Executive Director Jennifer Finn and Rebecca Blinder, both
sopranos, accompanied by pianist Arri Simon. Derek Louie,
cellist age 17 and a student at the Professional Children's
School, also performed.
More than 150 guests attended the event, which
raised more than $100,000, an increase of 25% over the event
held in 2014. NYFE will direct the funds raised to the shingles
virus education and vaccination program, consistent with its
mission to serve the elderly population and Holocaust survivors
in the New York metropolitan area, especially those residing in
nursing homes or other long-term care institutions, bringing
caring and dignity to older New Yorkers since 1966.
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