Local Family Honored By The Epilepsy Foundation

Jeff, Betsy and Jonathan Blattmachr, Garden City residents, received the 2007 Naomi Silverman family of the Year Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island

On Friday, April 20, the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island held its annual dinner dance, "A Night at the Opera," at Carlyle on the Green at Bethpage State Park. Family, friends and people with epilepsy joined together to help raise money to support the community education efforts of the Epilepsy Foundation. The proceeds also help support the foundation's residential homes, day programs and clinic services. Through education comes understanding, and one of the missions of the foundation is to educate the public about epilepsy to help reduce the stigma and misconceptions that still surround this disorder.

Betsy, Jonathan and Jeff Blattmachr of Garden City, advocates for individuals with epilepsy, received The Naomi Silverman Family of the Year Award. This award is in memory of Naomi Silverman, one of the founding members of the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island. Betsy Blattmachr is a member of the Board of Director of the foundation and chairs the Development Committee.

More than 30,000 children and adults on Long Island live each day with the challenges of epilepsy. In addition, 1,200 Long Islanders are newly diagnosed each year. The disorder affects all aspects of a person's life and the Epilepsy Foundation is there to support patients and their families in residential homes, day programs, supportive clinic services and community education programs.

The dinner dance is the Epilepsy Foundation's largest fundraising event. For information about the dinner or about the Epilepsy Foundation, call the Development Office at (516) 739-7733 ext. 141.