The Rye Youth Council honored Nancy Pasquale, co-founder and coordinator of RyeACT prevention coalition, at its annual spring benefit on Thursday, April 25.
More than 275 parents and others packed the ballroom at the Apawamis Club for the RYC’s Help Helps Mirror Ball.
Since its start in 2016, RyeACT, founded by Pasquale, has secured more than $1.3 million in prevention funding.
RYC Executive Director Lisa Dominici said Pasquale “has grown RyeACT from a small group of concerned residents to a nationally respected coalition. Nancy and RyeACT have moved the needle on youth substance use in Rye, including decreases in underage drinking and prescrip-tion drug misuse, among others. Many of RyeACTs efforts focus on mental health, and Nancy and the entire RYC team work hand in hand on a daily basis.”
The assembled group also heard from Jillian Brensilver and Gianna (Gigi) Mazzilli, two Rye High School seniors who spoke about their experiences as leaders of the RYC’s peer to peer program at the high school.
“We help increase awareness around mental health, decrease stigma, and increase help-seeking among our schoolmates,” Brensilver said. “Peer to peer creates a safety net and a shoulder to lean on when it can sometimes feel like no one else is there.”




RYC Board Co-President and event chair Meghann Kelly told the crowd that the council’s mental health counseling service, RYC Restore, has provided more than 1,045 individual sessions to more than 110 children ages five to 22.
Citing the image of a mirror ball, Kelly said, “Cracks are part of our history, part of our life and story; they can let the light in . . . everyone here today is affected either directly or indirectly by mental illness. We are all here for a reason, and part of that reason is that Help Helps.”