Hetrick Martin Institute’s School’s Out

The 21st anniversary of the Hetrick-Martin Institute's School's Out was held on Saturday, June 8th in East Hampton.  The institute is the oldest running metropolitan LGBTQ youth support center and offers education, counseling, housing, healthcare, food, and many other services for youth who may be struggling with their home lives and social equality.  The co-chairs were Benjamin Dixon, Daniel Ennis and Rod Grozier, with event co-hosts including Joseph Altuzarra, Tracy Anderson, Shelly Brown, Lisa Cohen, Fernando Garcia, Ryan Kaplan, Garrett Neff, Brian Sawyer, Kevin Sharkey, Sydney Sadick, Bill Wackermann, Paul Weinstein and Thom Filicia.

Cocktails were held at the beach-side estate of Lisa and James Cohen, who have graciously hosted the event many times in the past and once again opened their home with Lisa quoting,

"I think it's more of an honor for me than HMI to welcome this handsome group for such a special evening.  The Hetrick-Martin Institute gave me a new purpose, a new passion for being a part of a helpful community, and I can't wait for the years to come where we all end up on my front lawn talking about our success as a true 'School's Out Family'".

Following cocktails, guests were transported via Range Rover shuttles to the home of Joe Hall and Martin Dagata where they were treated to live Bossa Nova and a candlelit dinner sponsored by STK.  As the crowd enjoyed fresh watermelon salads and grilled filets, host committee member Tracy Anderson awarded Lisa Cohen with a humanitarian recognition piece of art, and thanked her for her continued support and involvement with the institute.  Later, Rod Grozier and television legend Thom Filicia held the paddle raise auction with great success.

While final fundraising numbers have yet to be tallied, the institute remarked that 'This was one of our most successful School's Out… ever!'.