Newtown Residents Helping Raise Money For ABD

DANBURY — They grew up together, they own car dealerships together, and now they are helping to throw one of the biggest fundraisers in the greater Danbury area together. Brothers David and Darren Beylouni and their wives Melissa and Kristin are co-chairing the 2011 Ability Beyond Disability gala.

David and Darren have lived their entire lives in the greater Danbury area. They jointly own Colonial Ford-Lincoln, Colonial Subaru, and Colonial Mazda on Federal Road, and are very connected to their community. In 2010, Darren and Kristin attended the Ability Beyond Disability gala as guests. After being inspired by the organization and all it does to help people with disabilities in this area, they were eager to help with this year’s event

ABD 28th Annual Gala, “The Reach For The Stars Gala … Discovering, Building and Celebrating Dreams,” will be Saturday, April 30, beginning at 6:30 pm, at The Amber Room Colonnade. The annual gala is Ability Beyond Disability’s largest fundraising event, attracting close to 600 guests each year.

Tickets are $200 each, or a table of ten is available for $1,700. Gala proceeds will allow Ability Beyond Disability to continue to provide critical supports to more than 1,500 people with disabilities in the community.

The evening will honor former governor M. Jodi Rell with The Robert S. Young Humanitarian Award and will feature both silent and live auctions, raffles, dinner and dancing.

David and Melissa live in Newtown with their two sons, while Darren and Kristin live in Ridgefield with their daughter.

“Ability Beyond Disability is giving people with disabilities the kind of life that every person deserves,” said Darren. “That really resonated with me. And the outpouring of community support we saw at the gala was just so powerful. I knew I wanted to become more involved,” he said.

The two couples recently toured a few ABD group residences in the greater Danbury area. David said the experience helped him to better understand how important the services provided by ABD really are.

“Being able to see first-hand what it is that the staff at Ability Beyond Disability do for people with disabilities every day has made me feel truly honored to be a part of such an important fundraising event,” he said.

The brothers are in friendly competition to see who can raise the most money prior to the event. They are also firm believers in “leading by example,” so Colonial Automobile Group has committed to being a Premiere Sponsor. With the help of ABD board members and staff they are engaging community members to support the gala through sponsorships and program book ads. With more than a month until the event, the Beylounis are confident that this will be ABD’s most successful gala yet.

Ability Beyond Disability is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Bethel and Mount Kisco, N.Y. It provides a wide range of services for more than 1,500 people with a disability — including numerous residential alternatives, employment training, career counseling, job placement services, cognitive and life skills instruction, clinical and therapeutic support, and volunteer and recreational activities.

Today, its services extend far beyond the Danbury community into much of Connecticut and the Hudson Valley, N.Y.

For more information about Ability Beyond Disability, visit www.AbilityBeyondDisability.org.