connect 2018 • 92 YOUNG LEADERS SOCIETY BOSTON Boston Young Leaders St. Patrick’s Celebration MARCH, 2018 On March 15, The Ireland Funds’ Boston Young Leaders hosted a record crowd of 600+ at the annual St. Pat- rick’s Celebration, their signature event each year. Keeping with The Ireland Funds’ tradition of top venues, the Young Leaders, their friends and Ireland Funds’ supporters were wel- comed to the Wharf Room at the Boston Harbor Hotel. Over- looking Boston Harbor, appropriately up-lit in green, the room was filled with laughter, stories, bidding on hotly-contested auction items. Steve Greeley, The Ireland Funds New Eng- land Director and Vice President of Development, opened the program by noting it was another record-breaking evening of celebrating Irish pride which would make a real difference in Ireland. County Mayo’s TD Michael Ring, Ireland's Minister for Rural and Community Development, gave a rousing and well- received expression of the deep gratitude of the Irish gov- ernment for The Ireland Funds’ astounding support of Irish nonprofits. Minister Ring concluded by assuring those with Irish roots in the filled-to-capacity room, that their grandpar- ents and great grandparents were looking down and smiling at the continued expression of Irish bonds. Chairman Mike Greeley challenged the Young Leaders to continue to gather and give back to Ireland. Mike Greeley then thanked his Vice Chairmen Michael Collins, Jr. of Optum, Nora Kennedy of Suffolk Construction, and Matt Harrington of Interconti- nental Real Estate, who each saluted the event’s sponsors. With records broken for both fundraising and attendance, the party continued with great momentum. Boston-based Irish band “Devri” kept the night upbeat and Irish. Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters, particularly our Patron Sponsors: Newmark Knight Frank, Optum, State Street, and Suffolk Cares and Benefactor Sponsors: Choate Hall & Stewart LLP, Claremont Properties, Dell EMC, Eversource, Goldman Sachs & Co., Grand Coast Capital, & Laura & Bob Reynolds and our in-kind sponsors Winston Flowers and Delta Airlines. 1 Matt Harrington, Nora Kennedy, Mike Greeley, Michael Collins, Jr. 2 Olivia Florence, Maggie Berkley, Kristen Blake, Holly Foster, Campbell Probert 3 No caption 4 Meghan O’Donnell, Campbell Probert 5 Leanna Coskren, Andrew Flynn, Mike Coskren 6 Suffolk Construction 7 Charles Veysey, Jeff Carter 8 St Patrick’s Committee Chairman, Mike Greeley Photos: Sandie Allen 1 4 7 2 5 3 6 8