Fundraising to Further the Work of Christ through Bridges of Greater New York
Abp. Craig Bates, Fr. Brett Crompton, Dcn. Andrew Wyns, Alan Melanson
The Seventh Annual Golf Classic for Bridges of Greater New York took place on Monday, June 8, 2009. Over one hundred and twenty CEC clergy and lay-folk inhabited the golf course of The Woodmere Club on New York’s Long Island for a day of fellowship, friendly competition, and food. The day culminated with a dinner in the country club’s main hall, where about an additional forty guests joined the golfers for raffles, auctions and fine food, adding to the jovial fundraising. One hundred percent of the funds will go directly to the daily operations of Bridges of Greater New York.
Present were Archbishop Craig Bates, Fr. Brett Crompton (founding director of Bridges of Greater New York), Deacon Andrew Wyns (executive director of Bridges of Greater NY and overseer of Winton Bridge, The Brothers’ House, in Rochester, New York), Paul Ammendola (associate director/comptroller, Bishop Frank J. Constantino House in Freeport on Long Island), Bridges clinical director Paula Hinton, Carmine Mancusi (house manager of the Freeport house), and Dane Donovan, house manager of the Newburgh Bridge (Newburgh, New York). Deacon Jim Connolly hosted the event and emceed the dinner.
The most moving moment of the evening was a DVD presentation displaying interviews with some of the Bridges men. They testified to how they have benefited from the unique combination of spiritual guidance, clinically knowledgeable counseling, and loving challenge that is typical of the Bridges ministry. These men had been substance abusers and were court-mandated to Bridges as alternative sentencing to jail. Their lives have been transformed by their encounter with Jesus via the Bridges ministry. Seeing their faces and hearing their testimonies, all of us who came to donate were rewarded a thousandfold for every penny collected.
The Golf Committee publicly thanked Richie and Alice Malta for their faithful ministry of cooking dinner and attending Bible study each Wednesday night at the Bp. Constantino House. The Golf Committee also honored Carmine Mancusi for his dedication to the Bridge ministry, and Charlie Jesel for his loyalty to the Bridge outing since its beginnings.
It is our prayer that Bridges of Greater New York continue to minister to these men, and that Archbishop Bates’ vision for Bridges houses for women also be fulfilled.
