Mentoring Benefit

The 23rd Annual Mentoring Benefit took place on Thursday, October 24, 2019

from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Garden City Country Club on Long Island.

About the 2019 Benefit

An evening of celebration at MENTOR New York's 23rd Annual Mentoring Benefit will included cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, music, silent auction and more. New and returning supporters of mentoring enjoyed mingling and a brief program, which you can watch here.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Mentoring Benefit through a sponsorship, donation, ticket purchase, auction bid or

the donation of their time and talents. You made a difference!

2019 Program Honoree

MENTOR New York honored René Fiechter. René is the Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County for District Attorney Madeline Singas, and served in this role for District Attorneys Denis Dillon and Kathleen Rice (now Congresswoman).

René developed and was Chief of all three of the District Attorneys’ community-oriented prosecution programs where he led a team of community problem solving ADAs in high crime neighborhoods.

Prosecution projects included:

the first suburban community court
alternative sentencing programs
jobs projects
raising million dollars for neighborhood partnerships
anti-gang programs
youth mentoring
development of Nassau’s fully self-financed Community Service program

René was a pioneer in the development of the New York-based EAC, Education Assistance Corporation.

He has served as the following:

chair of the Long Island Amateur Boxing Coaches Association
policy board member of the NYS Coalition for Criminal Justice
policy board member of the Chairman of the Nassau Coalition for Safety and Justice
policy board member of the President of the American Academy for Professional Law Enforcement
co-chair of NYS Fight Crime Invest in Kids

He currently chairs:

County’s Heroin Prevention Task Force
Long Island’s Youth Safety Coalition

His longtime dedication to serving young people in the Long Island community has resulted in close connection with MENTOR New York, as MNY has supported many of his youth and mentoring initiatives.

René is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and has law degrees from both Hofstra University (JD) and New York University (LLM criminal law). He is a member of the Bar Association of Nassau County, is an Adjunct Professor in Criminal Justice at Nassau Community College, and a member of Molloy College’s Board of Advisors for the Criminal Justice Graduate program.

2019 Benefit Host Committee

Chair:

Matthew Spero

Committee Members:

Saveeta Barnes

Doreen Barry-Schneider

Dr. Jaime Bremnes

Lila Buonfrisco

Mary Cawley

Pamela Danbusky

Jenna & Jeremy Freed

Maureen Lagarde