On May 25, Mass General for Children’s Aspire program knocked it out of the park with a spectacular 20th anniversary celebration of its annual Aspire Spring Gala at Fenway Park. The evening raised over $2.5 million for Aspire, the world-renowned Lexington, Mass.-based program that helps children, teens and adults with high cognitive autism spectrum disorder and related profiles develop the skills necessary to be successful in their communities and workplaces.
Fenway hosted around 800 guests, who enjoyed impressive access and views of the iconic park, photos with the Commissioner’s Trophy, live music by The Elovators, and elevated gameday food like mini lobster rolls, oysters and Fenway franks.
Longtime gala co-chairs Stephanie and David Long, Tim Sweeney, and Terry and Tom Hamilton, along with gala committee members Ann Marie and Daniel Gross, and Kim and Eric Karofsky, as well as the Executive Director of Aspire, D. Scott McLeod, PhD, were on-hand to celebrate this milestone and reflect on the impact of their unrelenting commitment to Aspire’s mission.
Throughout the history of the gala, the generosity of supporters has helped raise more than $24 million to support the Aspire program. These funds have enabled Aspire to develop more than 40 new programs for children, teens and adults on the autism spectrum and train thousands of people through the Aspire Works internship and neurodiversity training programs.
The memorable evening, impeccably designed by longtime partner Rafanelli Events, showcased a lively speaking program, poignant spotlight video, and an interactive luxury key game with one-of-a-kind prize packages, including a trip to Dublin, blue topaz earrings, and concert tickets to Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band.
To learn more about Aspire, visit www.mghaspire.org.