Staten Island’s Best Dressed: Donna Long’s retirement party at LiGreci’s Staaten

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Featured in this week’s Staten Island’s Best Dressed are photos from Donna Long’s retirement party on May 30 at LiGreci’s Staaten, West Brighton.

More than 130 friends, colleagues and loved ones gathered to honor Donna’s extraordinary career of 44 years of dedicated service to and tireless advocacy for individuals with utism and developmental disabilities, shaped by her personal experience as a mother to her daughter Jeanine, who has developmental disabilities.

The evening featured a video presentation and heartfelt speeches, including Donna’s daughter, Kristen Long, who reflected on both her mom’s professional legacy, strong personal values and lifelong dedication in fighting for the rights, services and dignity of people with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities—not just for her own child, but for countless others across Staten Island and beyond.

“We have a lot of colleagues here tonight and people who my mom has worked with in different ways over the past 44 years and we have our amazing family and friends,” Kristen Long said, recalling watching her mother transform communities through her work with compassion and strength.

“When I was a teenager I worked at Starbucks on Bard Avenue, right up the block and my parents would come in and sit and drink coffee and tea while I worked,” she added. “One day my mom was sitting in her chair and I was working and a young woman was hit by a car right outside the window.

“My mother, being who she is, jumped right up. She made me take off the sweatshirt I was wearing and give it to her. She put the sweatshirt under the young woman’s head and sat with her and held her hand while they waited for the ambulance. My mother literally taught me how to give a stranger in need the shirt off my back.”

Kristen Long also reflected on the moral courage required of her mother throughout her advocacy. “Every single day my mom put herself out there to do the work – in both big and small ways – to know she was walking into a room where people were going to dehumanize her own daughter and others like her."

Kristen Long also thanked her family, including her dad, Jeff Long, The Staaten, Cris Marchione, Jackie Scarcella, Lea Graham, Fran Lehr, Mikey Cugno, Tatiana Arguello, Luanne Sorrentino, Giovanella Stewart, DJ Vinny and Joe for making the event a success. Person Centered Care Services donated the entertainment and A Very Special Place donated the video.

In her closing remarks, Kristen said: “Thank you, mom, for the shining example you’ve set, for the tireless work you’ve done and for being who you are,” noting that although she is “retiring” from a formal job, she’ll never retire from her activism and advocacy because “you don’t clock out on caring.”

“You don’t clock out on being a mom and I don’t just mean a mom to Jeanine and I,” added Kristen Long. “At every agency my mom has ever worked at she has always referred to the members of the programs as her kids. She fought and continues to fight for each of them as if they were her own children because she understands how incredibly important it is for the most vulnerable among us to have a voice.

“We can all do a little of the work to make a big difference, because its going to take a lot of us to equal one Donna Long.”

ABOUT DONNA LONG

Donna Long’s 44-year career in Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) and autism services began with the birth of her eldest daughter, Jeanine. Currently the director of external affairs at Crossroads Unlimited, Inc., her career highlights include her pivotal role at On Your Mark, where she spearheaded the creation of the OYM Café. She also served as executive director and VP of Outreach Services at SIUH Later, as executive director of the Grace Foundation, Long played a key role in acquiring the property that now serves as the foundation’s headquarters and main program campus.

Though she has enjoyed a distinguished career across multiple non-profit organizations, Long is most recognized for her advocacy for people with I/DD and Autism, their families, and the staff supporting them. Long has also been a key figure in the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council, where she co-chairs the Advocacy Committee.

She is a founding member and VP of the Staten Island Opportunities Alliance, president of the Person-Centered Care Services Board, and an active member of the SOS (Save Our Services) Statewide Advocacy Coalition. She also is a Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement.

Long and her husband, Geoffrey, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Jeanine and Kristen. Jeanine was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. Long’s passion for advocacy remains unwavering, as she continues to be a mentor, leader and dedicated advocate for individuals with I/DD and autism.

See photos from the event below, and send your photos for consideration for future installments of this column to gsantos@siadvance.com.

Be sure to include clear photos, along with event details and the names of everyone pictured.