250+ Women Come Out for 5th Annual Camp Venture Dinner

The banquet hall at Pearl River Hilton was crowded Thursday night for A Magical Evening for Women: "In Celebration of Women For Venture." It's the fifth year for this annual dinner.

At a glance, the night appeared to be just an evening of fun, dinner, drinks and socializing by women from all over Rockland County. However, the underlying focus was much more important. All proceeds from that night's raffle and Chinese auction went toward Camp Venture's special programs. These programs are not funded by state aid.

The evening was in honor of Marilyn Davis, an attorney at law in New City.

“(Davis) has been a friend to Camp Venture and the people we serve since the early 80s,” said Barbara Reece, who just retired as the director of the foundation for the last 30 years.

Each year, this dinner is held to honor a woman that has supported the cause for the development of the disabled in the community.

"It's a tremendous honor," said Davis. "This is an organization of highly motivated people who have done extraordinary things for their own children, getting their children to the point so that they can enjoy festivities, enjoy going out into the community. There was a time not so long ago when the children this organization services were hidden in closets, hidden in basements. Now they're out in the world, they have jobs, they have social activities, some of them have relationships. It's a huge change.”

State aid funds many of the necessary programs, so an event like this is strictly to raise funds for Venture’s special programs.

“At Camp Venture, we're cut back now. Not-for-profits are all having a tough time,” said Reece.  

Reece said one of the many special programs includes Creative Arts in which the people Camp Venture services are introduced to art, ceramics, writing and singing music.

“That's the kind of programs that we don't want to see anything happen to those,” said Reece. “That’s what the money's all about. The state takes care of the essentials, like room and board. We're hoping that we can reach about $30,000 toward the program tonight.”

Reece co-organized the event with with Jennifer Sernotti.

“Marilyn Davis and her husband has been with us since day one at Camp Venture,” said Sernotti. “They're still behind us. They also helped us form the foundation.”

“We started (planning) in the beginning of the year,” said Sernotti. “Most of these ladies are close families and friends of Venture. All the proceeds tonight go to the consumers.”

Donated by national, regional and local companies, raffle prizes included cosmetics, wine baskets, games, electronics and much more.

 "There are special events that we want our children to enjoy and it's difficult to do on an empty pocket," said Davis. "So an organization like this will bring funds in. The state pays for a good deal of the housing, medical things, necessities, but the remainder of enjoyments in life are not funded."

There was a buffet and the ladies enjoyed a signature drink: the Hocus Pocus Cosmos.

“It's a lot of fun. It's a great way to network and get together with your buddies,” said Sernotti. “It's better than we had thought.”

“The ladies love coming out and having a night together,” said Reece. “I know we have an excess of 250 women from around Rockland County tonight.”