Kings Park's St. Patricks Day Sweatshirts Are Very Special

Maureen Ledden Rossi

The 4^th annual Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held Saturday March 1^st.   Thousands of people will descend on the small community that has strong Irish roots.  Adorned in green, they will come to hear the dozens of pipe bands and enjoy what has rapidly become one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in Suffolk County.    To help keep those marching and parade goers both warm and green, this year the St. Patrick’s Day Committee purchased one thousand Kelly Green sweatshirts from Spectrum Designs. 

Committee member and owner of Professors Diner, Kevin Denis was thrilled by his recent tour of the Nassau County facility where the hooded sweatshirts were made.  “I fell in love with these kids, it was amazing to watch them hard at work – they produce a quality product for a fair price,” he shared.  Spectrum Designs hires young adults on the spectrum, a term used and associated with Autism because symptoms  and severity of impairment vary greatly.   Autism is a considered a neural developmental disorder; it’s generally characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and communication difficulties.  

Kathleen Lanese is the Kings Park mother of two autistic boys and a well-known Autism advocate.  She introduced Denis to Spectrum and accompanied him on his tour of the Port Washington plant.    “This company is so important, so many of our kids are aging out of services and need meaningful work,” she explained.  Lanese said after the age of twenty-one, they no longer receive services from the public school system.  “Are they supposed to just sit home?” she questioned.  Lanese applauds what Spectrum is doing and hopes that this wonderful organization can continue to expand and offer employment opportunities for Kings Park residents with special needs.

Spectrum is presently celebrating their third birthday. They employ 30 teens and young adults with Autism.  They are optimistic that if they continue to get the word out about what they do, their business will grow.    Partners Patrick Bardsley, Nicole Sgrue and Stella Spanakos are proud of the non-profit business they have built together.   “I came to know Nicole when I was working at a summer camp a few years back, I was working with her son Nicolas who has Autism,” Bardsley explained.   Born in the United Kingdom, Bardsley earned his graduate degree in Special Education with an emphasis on Autism.   He is happy to report that Nicholas who is now 22 is employed by the company and enjoys coming to work.   “I love to work as well – I’m blessed to have interaction with the guys every day; if I’m having a bad morning they cheer me up,” he laughed.

New York State Industries for Disabled (NYSID) works with companies like Spectrum, known as social enterprises.   “By employing people with special needs, we help lower Social Security costs,” he continued.   Municipalities are supposed to come to NYSID companies first.   “We don’t even have to technically bid if our price is with what they paid in previous years or within 10% of market price,” he added.  

Bardsley laughed when saying their quality control is second to none.   “Kids with Autism tend to be very meticulous in the way they do things, they are very detail oriented,” he said.  His employees will notice the smallest error in an order, like a crease in a sweatshirt or uneven printing.    He said the expectations for the employees are very clear and they respond to that.   “They find so many things challenging if life; they like to know exactly what they have to do and they like being successful at it,” he said. 

The sweatshirts for the St. Patrick’s Day parade are $20 – for size XL or larger they are $25 (sizes go up to 3XL).  They are being sold at Professors Diner in the Key Food Parking Lot.   The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is hoping to sell all one thousand hoodies before the parade and optimistically be able to order more from Spectrum.    The company also makes party favors and promotional products.   “Your patronage and support assists us in our mission to employ these highly capable individuals while helping them achieve fuller, more productive, meaningful lives,” said Bardsley.