It was a full house on Thursday, March 14 when Life’sWork held its 3rd Annual Spring Gala in the Rivers Casino Ballroom. Guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and live music all while supporting and learning about the important mission of Life’sWork of Western PA.

While their words were meaningful, no one tells our story better than our clients and the business partners who provide them with valuable employment opportunities. Mason is one such client, employed at the Allegheny Fire Academy. The evening officially kicked off with a video sharing Mason’s story, which you can view below.

With that, food and drinks were served and the Bachelor Boy’s Band took the stage for a night of fun and networking with other guests, including over twenty members of the Life’sWork staff and Board of Directors.

As the night continued, we also honored our Business Partner of the Year for 2018: Adams Manufacturing. Adams is one of our newest business partners, having established a robust working relationship with them last spring. Through the partnership, Life’sWork and Adams Manufacturing were able to provide meaningful employment for over 50 individuals with disabilities, giving these individuals heavy doses of self-esteem, engaging work, and a paycheck for many of the weeks during the spring and summer of 2018.

The previous recipient of our Business Partner of the Year award, DreBo, America Inc., were highlighted once again in another video presentation. In addition to providing work for the clients in our Mon Valley office, DreBo also employs our client Jeremy, whose story was told in the second video of the night. Jeremy himself was also present at the event, ready to talk about his work with anyone who asked.

The evening came to a close with the drawing of the winners of our many raffle baskets, provided by many community partners including the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, the Mario Lemieux Foundation, and more.

To conclude the evening, we presented one final video spotlighting another client from our Mon Valley office, Brittany, who is employed by Diann Donaldson at the Jazzy Boutique. We were lucky enough to have Diann present with us to share Brittany’s story.

The evening would not have been possible without our sponsors: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc, S&T Bank, Rivers Casino, Staley Capital, and University of Pittsburgh. Whether they are connected to Life’sWork through our business services or a personal connection to our mission, our sponsors provide the support necessary to allow us to continue serving our clients each year.

The Spring Gala is not just a night of food, drinks, and fun. It is a way for members of the community to learn about the mission of Life’sWork and the important service we and our business partners provide to our many clients.

If you are interested in learning more about the programs and services at Life’sWork, click here. To make a donation, click here.

Happy Holidays from Life’sWork of Western PA! Last week, we held our annual holiday party featuring music, drinks, dessert, and a homemade holiday dinner.

And as always, our clients were treated to an appearance by the one and only Santa Claus himself!