- The Beacon

| Spring 2009

| Summer 2008 | Winter 2008

Arc Consumers Dazzle over 450 at 57th Dinner Dance

Randolph - On Friday April 17 th over 450 supporters of the Arc of the South Shore gathered at the Lantana Function Hall in Randolph for the Arc’s 57 th Annual Dinner Dance. The theme of this year’s event was “Dancing with the Stars”, the evening featured a performance from a group of 16 of the Arc’s consumers who had been training in ballroom dance at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Hanover. The eight couples dazzled the assembled guests demonstrating the ability of individuals with developmental disabilities to achieve their goals through hard work and dedication. At the conclusion of the dance exhibition, the dancers were recognized for their hard work to rousing applause.

“I’ve been with these dancers from their first day of lessons until tonight, its just incredible to see how far they have come.” Said Katie Hanley, The Arc’s Director of Community Supports. “They were all very serious about doing things right, they put a lot of pressure on themselves to be the best they could be. I’m just so proud of them that I cannot describe!”

Each year the Arc uses the occasion of the Dinner Dance to honor some of the people among the honorees were State Senator Robert Hedlund, who has been a supporter of the Arc for a number of years and I.G. Marston, Inc. of Holbrook, who has supported of the Arc by providing work to their workshop, Harbor Industries.

“This is an incredible evening that has continued to improve each year, since I’ve been here!” Said Executive Director Daryl Ann Cook. “I am very impressed by the fact that we are able to gather over 450 people in support of the Arc, especially in this economy. It shows how important the work we do really is, and the fact that there are a lot of people who recognize that.”

The fact that threats of state budget cuts have put some of the Arc’s programs in jeopardy made the evening even more important. Cook went on to say “Gaining visibility and awareness of our situation is very important right now. We need to let people know that, even in times like these, we cannot let our most vulnerable citizens down.” She continued, “Potential cuts to DMR funding have been well documented. Many of these cuts would be devastating to individuals and families. While we’ve made up some ground recently, there is still a lot of work to do before the state budget is finalized.”

The evenings presenting sponsors were by Fallon Ambulance Service, Frye Insurance Agency of Braintree, South Shore Savings Bank, the Verrochi Family Charitable Trust, Watch All and the Massachusetts Council Knights of Columbus.