Page 15 - Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Annual Report

Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Gala 2024:
211/LIFE LINE: Elevating Community.

Empowering Connections.

The Goodwill Gala, co-hosted by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes and Smola Consulting, brought
the theme of “Elevating Community, Empowering Connections” to the Hyatt Regency in
downtown Rochester on March 9, 2024. Funds raised at the event—over $225K—support
GFL’s 211/LIFE LINE, a free and confidential phone, chat, and text service that operates 24/7,
connecting our neighbors across the region with the services and resources they need.

The Gala honored two individuals whose work embodies GFL’s
core purpose—across our many programs—of providing tools
and support that individuals can use to transform themselves.
Dr. April Aycock, Director of the Monroe County Office of Mental
Health and President/CEO of Awareness Counseling Services,
received GFL’s Good Neighbor Award, and Kevin Lynch,
President/CEO of National Industries for the Blind, received the
Dr. Gwen Sterns Visionary Award.

And we bid farewell to Sue DiPiazza, a retiring GFL employee
of nearly two decades. Ms. DiPiazza addressed our Gala guests,
telling the story of her own transformation: from a low period
that included a DUI arrest and the experience of homelessness,
through a long career of service and meaning, to this point of
reflection on the powerful impact GFL has had on her life. GFL
was there for her when she reached out to a hotline we were
operating back then - a predecessor to our 211/LIFE LINE - and
with this encouragement she found the determination to enroll
in Monroe Community College. With the credentials in food
administration she earned there, she returned and got a job
at a place that already meant so much to her—Goodwill of the
Finger Lakes. [Gala photos by: Stephanie Alane Photography]