Guild for Exceptional Children finds new fundraising partner

November 4, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Paul Cassone (left), executive director of the Guild for Exceptional Children, is hoping that a new program by Investors Bank will help the organization’s fundraising effort. Cassone is pictured with Councilmember Vincent Gentile, former councilmember Domenic Recchia and Anthony Cetta, first vice president of the Guild’s Board of Directors (left to right), at an awards ceremony last year. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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The Guild for Exceptional Children (GEC), a non-profit education and housing agency that assists thousands of developmentally disabled Brooklyn residents and their families, is seeking to expand its mission and has teamed up with Investors Bank for a unique fundraising effort.

The GEC recently joined with Investors Bank in the Corporations Care2Share Affinity Program, a project designed to help non-profit 501c3 organizations like the GEC. The program allows bank account holders to select any charity they wish and have a portion of their bank interest awarded to that charity.

The GEC, which is based at 260 68th St. in Bay Ridge, is now one of the organizations that will benefit from the Investors Bank program.

“The Guild for Exceptional Children has indeed become a true partnership with Investors Bank,” said Maria Krisilas, branch manager and assistant vice president for Investors Bank of Bay Ridge. “Customers who do their banking at Investors Bank will now have the unique opportunity to designate the Guild for Exceptional Children as the recipient of a donation from the bank. The donation will be the equivalent of the interest accrued by all of the clients who agree to take part in the Corporations Care2Share Affinity Program. Clients are still paid the interest on their account.”

Investors Bank is also making the Corporations Care2Share Affinity Program available to new account holders, Krisilas said.

Paul Cassone, executive director and CEO of the GEC, said he is grateful for the support.

“We reached out to Investors Bank for support of our need to renovate the facility at 260 68th St. due to the changing needs of the people in our care. We needed to make the facility fully accessible and to ‘flip’ the usage of the two floors, making the first floor the main floor for therapeutic program activities and the second floor the main floor for staff training, meeting space, individual therapeutic activity and office functions. This will better accommodate individuals in our care with ambulation challenges,” Cassone said.

Investors Bank responded by awarding the GEC with $75,000 for the renovations, according to Cassone, who said the funds were used to supplement $1.9 million in funding the GEC had been awarded last year by the City Council.

“Investors Bank also asked us about our interest in their Care2Share Affinity Program which is a ‘win-win’ program for account holders and for the GEC. This is extremely important for us because government has been chipping away at the funding it provides for our programs and services, actually paying us less now than they did six years ago! The Investors Bank program helps make up our losses and to continue to provide quality programs and services to the children, adults, and senior citizens in our care,” Cassone said

The GEC provides nutrition programs, education, housing, recreational activities, job training and counseling services for thousands of clients in Brooklyn.

For more information on the Care2Share Affinity Program, call Krisilas at 718-491-4800 or email her at [email protected]