AVSP Participants Honored by SIDDC

On December 16th, the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council (SIDDC) held their annual Celebrating Achievement ceremony. Among the honorees were several AVSP program participants who shared their experiences at AVSP with those who attended. They gave a brief presentation on their “Give Thanks, Give Back” program, explaining how through this program they’ve worked on their team work and learned to give back to the community. They spoke specifically about the Thanksgiving dinner that they made from scratch and then donated to Project Hospitality. The participants were honored that the SIDDC chose to recognize their work and achievements with this program.

Harvest Café’s Chef Rob Burmeister Judges Contest

The Hungerford School and The Institute for Basic Research joined together to host their first Health Fair. Throughout the year, the students learned about healthy eating and living, and each class made a healthy snack. Making a special appearance was Harvest Café’s Chef Rob Burmeister! Rob was on hand to share his cooking expertise and to try all the tasty and healthy snacks that each class had made, and to choose the best one there. The winning class created a delicious yogurt parfait!

Harvest Café News Feature

Read an article about Harvest Café’s great food with a mission!

Support A Very Special Place’s New Venture: Harvest Café

If you’d like to try some of the Chef’s creations, stop by Harvest Café at 694 New Dorp Lane, scenically located across from Miller Field.

Hours of operation are:
Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Call (347) 857-6888 for daily specials. View the full breakfast and lunch menu.

Executive Office Has Moved

AVSP’s Executive Office has moved from 1429 Hylan Boulevard to 49 Cedar Grove Avenue, in New Dorp.

We can be contacted at the following address:

A Very Special Place, Inc.
Executive Office
49 Cedar Grove Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10306

A Great Way to Support AVSP: Just by Signing Up for Verizon!

A Very Special Place, Inc. is participating in a wonderful fundraising opportunity for New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island residents, sponsored by the Verizon Velocity program.

By signing up for any of the following residential products, Verizon will make a one-time donation to AVSP:
Internet (FiOS or High Speed Internet)- $25 donation
TV (FiOS or DIRECTV) - $20 donation
Phone (FiOS Digital Voice, or Freedom Calling Plan) - $10 donation
Long Distance - $10 donation

If you order their “Triple Freedom” package, which satisfies all of your phone, TV, and internet needs, AVSP will receive a $65 donation!

To help support AVSP, and take care of your phone/internet/cable needs, call (888) 692-5385 if you live in New York, and (888) 896-8873 if you are a resident of Massachusetts or Rhode Island. For a voice/tty call, call (800) 974-6006 or (508) 251-5301 for videophone. When calling, please provide the following code to the Verizon representative: 30177

Thank you in advance for supporting AVSP through Verizon’s Velocity program!

In the News…
Pathmark Helping Hands
and you too can lend a helping hand!!

A Very Special Place, Inc. has partnered with Pathmark for “Helping Hands In The Community.” Recycle your plastic bottles, glass, and cans at any participating New York Pathmark and it can benefit AVSP.

Just simply take your redeemable cans, glass and plastic bottles to the recycling machines at the store. After entering your returnable items into the machine, take your receipt to the Instadeem kiosk at Pathmark and select A Very Special Place, Inc. as the organization you wish to donate to. You will receive a receipt for your donation from Pathmark. AVSP will receive monthly checks from Pathmark through your donation.

Thanks to Pathmark your efforts will be twofold because not only will you be helping our organization but you will also be helping our earth by recycling!! Giving back to the community has always been one of Pathmark’s main goals with its sponsorship of local charity events; you too can support us year round through Pathmark.

To receive more information on Helping Hands in the Community, please contact our Development Department at (718) 987-1234.

Online Giving Made Easy!!!

A Very Special Place would like to introduce you to a new feature on our Web site—The Donate Now button through Justgive.org. JustGive is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect people with the charities and causes they care about and to increase overall giving. As millions of people discover every day, the Internet offers an array of incredibly helpful information, services, and tools. For nonprofit organizations, foundations, and donors, the Web is a powerful resource to be taken advantage of.

Most of us have the best intentions of doing something for charity but often hesitate because we don’t have the time, knowledge, or trust to give to a specific cause, JustGive bridges the gap between having the desire to help and actually making a difference. By donating online through JustGive, you reduce the enormous fundraising costs for charities and reduce the amount of paper waste that adds to environmental destruction. JustGive also provide you with an account of your Donation History, allowing you to keep track of your donations throughout the year—especially helpful at tax time!

JustGive also offers a variety of ways to give to AVSP through the use of the Internet. Did you know that many of the Web sites you may shop on offer percentages of your purchases to go to the charity of your choice? Just another way that AVSP can gain support by a donor doing things they do every day.

Please extend your support to our online giving through Justgive.org.

For more information about A Very Special Place,
financial information and our Form 990
please visit
A Very Special Place, Inc.
on Guidestar.

We Will Address Your Group

Do you need a speaker to address your club or civic group? We would be happy to send an Agency representative to speak with your organization about the role we play in the community to help empower the lives of people with developmental disabilities. Call the Development Office at 718.987.1234 to arrange a speaker for your next group function.

Come and See What’s Fun to Do!

Fun to Do activities are updated monthly, so make a note to visit Consumers Corner regularly and see what fun we have in store for you!