Nassau County Presents New York City Police Detective Steven Mc Donald with the First Annual Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr. Trailblazer Award

Mineola, N.Y. - Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi will be joined Monday, July 25 at 8:30 am, by the Director of the Nassau County Office for the Physically Challenged Don Dreyer, Deputy County Executive for Health and Human Services Dr. Mary Curtis, President and CEO of Abilities, Edmund L. Cortez, Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman and James J. Weisman, General Counsel of the United Spinal Association – the keynote speaker.

County Executive Suozzi will present New York City Police Detective Steven McDonald with the First Annual Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr. Trailblazer Award. Recipients of this award are chosen for their efforts in productively embracing the challenges of adversity and lighting the torch for inclusion and self-responsibility.

Recipients of the Award are chosen for their efforts in productively embracing the challenges of adversity and lighting the torch for inclusion and self-responsibility. New York City Police Detective Steven McDonald is the first to be honored.

“I am honored to be presenting the First Annual Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr. Trailblazer Award to Detective Steven McDonald,” said County Executive Suozzi. “Mr. McDonald exemplifies the trailblazing spirit of Henry Viscardi by living his life with passion, self-responsibility and commitment to removing barriers for the independence of others with disabilities,” he said.
   
On July 12, 1986, Steven McDonald was on patrol in Central Park and stopped to question three teenagers. While he was questioning them, the oldest, a fifteen-year-old, took out a gun and shot him in the head and neck – an incident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. This has not stopped his spirit; he is a strong advocate for the disabled as well as a voice for those in need of inner strength and hope.

Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr. was a pioneer in giving people with disabilities their rights. He founded Abilities in 1952 in a garage in West Hempstead. Since then, Abilities has evolved into one of the world’s foremost facilities for educating and training people with disabilities and is located in Albertson, New York. The original incarnation of Abilities, Inc. was staffed primarily by disabled World War II veterans and Abilities, Inc. provided assembly and factory work for many defense contractors in the local area.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are some 54 million Americans with disabilities; including more than 200,000 persons aged 16 - 64 in Nassau County. More than 500,000 citizens with disabilities reside in the Long Island region. Nassau County has been for many years a nationally recognized leader in removing barriers to people with disabilities.