J&B Restaurant Partners Offers Support Once Again

Long Island February 11, 2004--J&B Restaurant Partners, Inc. (J&B), who operates all Friendly's restaurants on Long Island, is supporting Easter Seals with their annual "Cones For Kids" program. From now until February 15th, Friendly's guests may choose either a Kids Valentine's Day card, redeemable for five free Friendly's Kids Cones, or an Adult Coupon Booklet with coupons worth over $35 for a donation to Easter Seals. The coupons include money-saving values on Friendly's food and ice cream.

This is Friendly's 23rd "Cones for Kids" Campaign. Since 1981, Friendly's has raised nearly $20 million for Easter Seals. "The millions of dollars that Friendly's has raised over the years has made a significant impact on the lives of thousands of people with disabilities and their families," explained Jamie Fahey, J&B's Senior Executive Director of Operations for Friendly's Restaurants. In existence for over 80 years, Easter Seals has been providing services to help children and adults with disabilities gain greater independence in their lives. The money raised by local Friendly's restaurants will help adults and children with disabilities on Long Island.

"We are committed to the Long Island community and feel only through support and commitment of local businesses like Friendly's LI, that a difference can be made and organizations such as Easter Seals can continue to provide much needed programs and services," stated J&B President and CEO, Joe Vitrano.

As part of its support to Easter Seals, J&B, who is also the college's food service operators, donated, catered and hosted the official "Kick-off" luncheon of the 2004 Easter Seals program for the New York area at Nassau Community College. Honoress included:

Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr.
Council member Vallone is the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the New York City Council. He also serves as a member of the Environmental, Governmental Operations, Oversight and Investigations and Standards and Ethics Committees. In addition to his numerous professional accomplishments, Vallone has devoted countless hours to support of non-profit organizations.

He has organized countless blood drives, anti-graffiti campaigns and bike-a-thons that have benefited the entire community. He has served as a volunteer attorney for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn for more than a decade.

His commitment to education and appreciation of the arts has led him to become a member of the advisory board at the Rebecca Center for Music Therapy, where he uses his musical skills to help autistic children with interactive music. Easter Seals honored Council Member Vallone for his outstanding support in helping individuals with disabilities.

Emma Vukelj
It's hard to imagine there was ever a time when little 4-1/2 year old preschooler Emma Vukelj wasn't the happy, social little girl that her family, teachers and classmates now know. However, just a few short years ago, Emma struggled socially and developmentally and was unable to interact with her teachers and fellow classmates.

Since then, Emma has made incredible strides as a student at the New York League for Early Learning's Clearview Preschool in Queens, which is part of the YAI/NIPD Network, a system of seven not-for-profit health and human service agencies that provides a range of services to more than 20,000 infants, children and adults with developmental, learning and physical disabilities in the New York metropolitan area, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.

Her progress is miraculous and next year, Emma will attend a mainstream kindergarten class. Emma will be honored for her courage and strength in overcoming her disabilities.

Lee Weiner
Twenty-five-year-old Lee Weiner is a college graduate who works for the New York Families for Autistic Children organization by day. At night, Lee attends classes in order to achieve his dream of becoming a substance abuse counselor.

As a child, Lee faced obvious developmental delays. Lee could speak, but it wasn't until he was almost 13 that he was able to initiate and participate in a conversation. He attended public school for several years before transferring to Friends Seminary. From there, Lee went on to attend college. Along with Emma, Lee is being honored for overcoming his disabilities.
   
Alea Mills
Alea Mills is an Assistant Professor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a private, non-profit research and educational institution that was established in 1890. Mills is dedicated to studying limb defects in children. Until recently, very little was known about how and why defects occurred. Mills discovered a gene that plays a very important role in the formation of limbs and she is currently exploring why this gene impacts limb development. Her breakthrough research will one day provide physicians with better treatment options. She is being honored for her research and efforts aimed to help children with disabilities in the future.

"We are so grateful for the support and dedicated that J&B Restaurant Partners has provided to Easter Seals through the years," stated Jeremy Christopher Kohomban, Senior Vice President of Easter Seals. "J&B's continual commitment to our efforts and the work that we do enables us to help more people living with disabilities on Long Island and creates a few miracles in the process."




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