Dan’s Papers OUT East End Impact Awards Debuts August 29

Dan’s Papers is proud to present its inaugural OUT East End Impact Awards, honoring individuals who have made a positive impact in the LGBTQ+ community on the East End and Long Island.

The event will take place outdoors on Sunday, August 29, from 4–7 p.m. at Calissa in Water Mill, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant with a beautiful terrace, and will feature an open bar cocktail hour (vodka, champagne, non-alcoholic beverages), passed hors d’oeuvres, a Gala Awards presentation and a special performance by singer-songwriter (and one of the Impact honorees) Inda Eaton. It wraps up with a DJ/tea dance.

A special Leadership and Philanthropic Achievement Award will be presented to Sag Harbor resident Mitch Draizin, resident of Concordia Philanthropic Fund, Co-Founder and President of the LGBTQ Advisory Council, Co-Founder of CUNY LGBT, Founding Board Member of the American LGBTQ Historical and Cultural Museum and an active participant and catalyst in numerous LGBTQ efforts on the East End.

A special Lifetime Achievement and Inspiration Award will be presented to Sag Harbor resident, Lucille Kyvallos, a legend and pioneer in women’s basketball. Kyvallos, a retired Queens College faculty member and women’s basketball coach, was an Olympic athlete and coach of the USA Women’s Basketball Team at the World Games.

Blanche Wiesen Cook and Clare Coss will receive special citations for their work in the literary, history and publishing worlds.

A Rising Star Impact Award will also be announced and presented at the event.

All 100% of the raffle entries and a portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center, which re-opened this year in Hampton Bays. The Edie Windsor Healthcare Center provides accessible, compassionate and comprehensive care to all members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community and individuals living with HIV via quality services administered in a caring atmosphere while maintaining confidentiality and respect for each patient as an individual. The center specializes in providing medical services and mental health care in an accessible, non-judgmental and caring environment regardless of sexual expression or gender identity.

“As patients of the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center and Rose Walton, the center has special meaning to us,” says Jimmy Mack and Brian Mott, who met on 11/11/11, got married the next year and have been active in LGBTQ+ and social justice advocacy ever since. Mack, a longtime volunteer EMT at the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance in Southampton, and Mott, a special ed teacher out east, are both Impact Award honorees.

“We are truly honored to be a part of Dan’s Impact Awards and feel blessed to be active participants in the LGBTQ community of the East End,” says the active, dedicated couple.

The 2021 OUT East End Impact Awards represents accomplished, impactful members of the community, from healthcare/wellness, business, media, the arts, law, education, sports/fitness and community service.

The growing list of honorees includes:

Lindsey Albinski, Esq. (family and matrimonial Super Lawyer 2020 advocate for transgender youth)

Christiane Arbesu (filmmaker, documentary award-winner I Am Arbesu)

Isaac “Boots” Calpito (fitness expert, owner of Torch’d Shoppe, Instagram star, raised over $1.3 million dollars for No Kid Hungry)

Cynthia Daniels (Grammy-winning recording engineer, owner of MonkMusic Studios)

Mitch Draizen (President of Concordia Philanthropic Fund, Co-Founder and President of the LGBTQ Advisory Council, Co-Founder of CUNY LGBT, Founding Board Member of the American LGBTQ Historical and Cultural Museum)

Clare Coss, (playwright, biographer, psychotherapist)

Blanche Wiesen Cook (historian, professor, author of the biography of Eleanor Roosevelt)

Inda Eaton (singer songwriter, toured with Save the Music, works with Ideas to Inspire, Project Mostt)

Pamela Godwin (RN for 30 years—liver transplant, oncology, nursing management—Senior Clinical Manager for New York at Hillrom, active in Family Equality Council)

Lucille Kyvallos (first female basketball coach at Queens College, USTA Tennis Champion and Coach)

Eric Lemonides (business owner, Almond restaurants, community leader)

Jimmy Mack (17 years as a volunteer EMT Ambulance, Southampton, LGTBQ advocate)

Brian Mott (special education teacher, LGBTQ advocate)

Thuyen Nguyen (wellness expert, Board Member of Second Chance Animal Rescue, store owner of Curated by Thuyen)

Sam Lippitt (head of sales at State Street Global Markets, board member of Family Equality Council)

Rachel Wilkins (artist, Shoulders of Giants series, commissioned artist at Edie Windsor Center)

Angela LaGreca, VP of Features and Events at Dan’s Papers and the writer/producer of Dan’s OUT East End column and the inaugural Impact Awards, described the goal of the Impact Awards: “It has been gratifying to begin to shine a light through Dan’s OUT East End on such a vibrant, accomplished community—a community that has always had a strong presence on the East End, but has, by most accounts, been ‘invisible.’ It’s time we change that. We look forward to celebrating meaningful achievements, strength, talent, vision and heart—and maybe even do a little distanced dancing.”

For tickets to the OUT East End Impact Awards on August 29, visit OutEastEndImpactAwards.com.

For sponsorships and more information about the event, contact Angela LaGreca at 631-629-8038, alagreca@danspapers.com.

The Edie Windsor Healthcare Center accepts most private insurance plans, Medicare, Medicaid and ADAP Plus. On-call service 24 hours, 7 days per week. Bilingual Support Staff (English/Spanish and English/Sign Language). Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, 182 West Montauk Highway, Building B, Suite D, Hampton Bays, 631-287-5990. southampton.stonybrookmedicine.edu/services/LGBTQ-and-HIV-healthcare