Augie's Prime Cut Raises $30K for Autism Speaks
The restaurant owners raise money on behalf of their daughter who was diagnosed with autism.
Photos
Augie’s Prime Cut owners, Audrey Hochroth and her husband Sal Barone, held their first annual golf outing at the end of September to raise money for Autism Speaks, bringing in more than $30,000.
"It’s a lot of work, but the results are touching and truly inspiring," Hochroth said. "I’m amazed at the community's involvement and proud of my customers and staff for helping us contribute to such a worthy cause. With autism now affecting so many children, these are the times we turn most to our friends, family, and community for support. It was a tremendous, collective effort that allowed us to exceed our fundraising goals and I am so happy I can do this for my daughter."
Inspiration for the event came from Hochroth's first hand experience with the struggles of autism. Her daughter Niki, now 20 years old, was diagnosed with autism after getting encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the brain, at the age of 6.
Hochroth and Barone have been involved in Autism Speaks charitable walks and various other fundraising events for autism throughout the years, but wanted to have their own event to benefit not only Nikki but the millions of other children affected by autism.
The event was held at the Garrison Golf Club where 75 golfers participated. Former Giants player Byron Hunt participated in a 'Beat the Pro' challenge with golfers paying to compete against the ex-Super Bowl winner for prizes. Each tee was sponsored by local businesses as the community rallied for the cause. A silent auction, cocktail reception and dinner was held at the restaurant where raise additional money for autism was raised.
Augie's staff donated their time and tips to work that evening. Local business owners and customers donated items for the silent auction, including a week in Cape Cod, tickets to the Metropolitan Opera, diamond necklaces, signed sports memorabilia, and much more.
"I am so excited in the success of the 1st Annual Augie’s Prime Cut Golf Tournament to Benefit Autism Speaks," said Christie Godowski, Westchester/Fairfield & Greater Hudson Valley Area Director for Autism Speaks. "It is individuals like Sal and Audrey that are truly changing the lives of those living with autism for the better."
Augie's Prime Cut has been an addition to the neighborhood as a successful steakhouse and hopes to use its position to continue to raise money for Autism and other charitable organizations, the owners said. Augie’s looks forward to continuing this new tradition and has already begun planning their second golf outing.
Augie's Prime Cut is located at 3436 Lexington Ave. in Mohegan Lake. For more information call (914) 743-1357.
Christina Rae
12:07 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2011
Nice work! I love Augie's Prime Cut -- great food! I just had a business lunch there yesterday, and also made reservations for a Girl's Night Out for later this month.
Mary E Tormey
12:28 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2011
As an Autistic person I feel we are being bullied:
Advocacy without representation is not advocacy it is bullying.
Hate speech is being spread around about Autistic people. Any study confusing our inability to recognize faces with our ability to feel empathy is not only untrue, but also dehumanizing.
Money collected on our behalf is being wasted; it is not in our best interests to give our money to people from an industry that routinely sacrifices our lives for a profit.
It is not in our best interests to lobby the government to force insurance to pay for treatments that are inhuman.
It is not in our best interests to deny jobs to well qualified Autistic people so we can afford to pay 6 figure incomes to people who are in good standing with the pharmaceutical industry.
It is false and ridiculous to dismiss our concerns by saying that we are selfish and don’t want a cure, we care deeply about others on the spectrum and we want to see them treated humanely.
Autism Speaks does not speak for me.
Please support me by not donating money to this fake charity.
Mary E Tormey
12:42 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2011
With all the money they are collecting every person with Autism should be given a devise designed to improve communication. Our skills our minds and our visual memory are being wasted away by expensive drugs when less expensive devices, can allow us to communicate more effectively. Drug companies are taking away our first amendment rights and collecting money in our names.
RelativeswithAutism
8:27 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2011
for Mary Tormey:
Autism Speaks is a wonderful organization that is helping many families with the overwhelming decisions they need to make for the therapy and direction in which to help their children on the Spectrum. They are bringing attention to Autism and raising funds for research and other assistance to families raising children on the spectrum. They even sponsor movie days where the sound in the theater is turned down so that families with autistic children can bring their kids to the movies like every other family. Research has found that intensive therapy works and most families do not have the resources and the only way these children have any chance of learning speech and other social behaviors is for insurance to cover the therapy. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but perhaps you're angry because not enough awareness was raised while you were younger and developing. With respect to your comment about devices, you have to find the CAUSE, then possibly the CURE before you could invent a device to assist with communication. And by the way there are devices that help, IPAD 2 and the PROLOQUO app is definitely helping communication with autism spectrum children. Intensive therapy is key, not drug taking.