Excited to return to in-person special events in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Melmark New England hosted its annual golf tournament on Monday, October 4, 2021 at The Golf Club at Tuner Hill in Ipswich. Local sponsors included New England BioLabs and the Institution for Savings. In addition to golf, sponsors, donors and guests at this year’s fore Melmark New England Tournament bid on an array of items in the Silent and Live Auctions, and were treated to an Awards Dinner featuring Emcee, Kendra Petrone of MAGIC 106.7 and Auctioneer, comedian Paul Gilligan. A number of guests attended the annual ladies afternoon event held in conjunction with the tournament. Martini, Mani and More was hosted by Salon Forza, Andover and Carol Mouradian of Mary Kay.

Support from this event will help Melmark New England achieve critical strategic priorities which this year include: establishing an Autism-specialty service Early Intervention program to diagnose and serve children ages 18 months – 3 years old, opening a new day school to help alleviate an extensive waiting list for educational, clinical and therapeutic services for those ages 5-22, and opening  a sixth adult residence to serve challenging individuals aging out of school-based services who require additional support and staffing.

With additional service divisions in Berwyn, Pennsylvania and Charlotte, North Carolina, Melmark as an organization has incurred more than $5 million in unplanned expenses and income losses since mid-March 2020, due to the pandemic. In New England alone, these expenses top more than $1.8 million.