{"id":132075,"date":"2024-06-22T08:53:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T12:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=132075"},"modified":"2024-06-22T08:53:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T12:53:11","slug":"lehigh-valley-emt-and-founder-of-gray-strong-foundation-honored-at-hollyrod-foundations-design-care-2024-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=132075","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh Valley EMT and Founder of Gray Strong Foundation Honored at HollyRod Foundation&#8217;s Design Care 2024 Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Eric Aquino to be honored alongside actress Viola Davis plus Autism and Parkinson\u2019s Disease Awareness Champions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>EASTON, PA, June 20, 2024<\/strong> \u2013The Gray Strong Foundation is proud to announce that the nonprofit\u2019s founder and local Lehigh Valley EMT, Eric Aquino, will be honored at this year\u2019s Design Care 2024 fundraising event. The event, hosted by Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, will take place on September 28th in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Aquino has dedicated his life to serving the Lehigh Valley community as an EMT and through the establishment of the Gray Strong Foundation. The foundation\u2019s mission is to provide medical resources, support, and hope to individuals and families affected by Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<p>The HollyRod Foundation Design Care 2024 event, themed &#8220;Cheers to the Future,&#8221; celebrates the intersection of fashion, music, and philanthropy, and recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities. This year&#8217;s event will honor notable figures, including Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis, Michelle Kwong, Julian Maha, Morgan Harper Nichols, Suzanne Camille Proctor, Dr. Chantale Branson, Eric Aquino, Jason McElwain, and Nadine Wright-Arbubakrr.<\/p>\n<p>Aquino, who is also an ambassador for the Michael J. Fox Foundation shared joy over the award announcement, \u201cI am deeply honored to be recognized by the HollyRod Foundation. I was diagnosed with early on-set Parkinson\u2019s at 40 and my grandmother also suffered from Parkinson\u2019s, so I am grateful for the opportunity to continue raising awareness and making a positive impact with Holly and Rodney Robinson Peete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Design Care event is known for its glamorous setting, high-profile attendees, and commitment to raising funds for autism and Parkinson\u2019s disease. This year\u2019s event will be held at a private residence featuring fashion shows, musical performances, and heartfelt tributes to the honorees.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the Gray Strong Foundation, please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.graystrong.org\">www.graystrong.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Gray Strong Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gray Strong Foundation\u00a0helps individuals #moveforwardwithparkinsons by providing medical and program resource support for Parkinson\u2019s patients and their families. Founded by local EMT, Eric Aquino, Gray Strong Foundation offers much needed support and Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) awareness to the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas via fundraising initiatives, @tremblingEMT social media tips and podcasts, medical resource information and exercise programs. Aquino is no stranger to generating successful non-profit organizations as a former chapter President of a local\u00a0Pink Heals\u00a0chapter (easily recognized by their pink fire trucks) and current Michael J. Fox Foundation Ambassador. Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.graystrong.org\">www.graystrong.org<\/a> for more info.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Parkinson\u2019s Disease<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Affecting an estimated one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson\u2019s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer\u2019s and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson\u2019s and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. Visit parkinson.org for more info.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the HollyRod Foundation<br \/>\n<\/strong> Founded by actress Holly Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, the HollyRod Foundation is dedicated to providing help and hope to those living with autism and Parkinson\u2019s disease. Through compassionate care and innovative programs, the foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by these conditions. Visit Hollyrod.org for more info.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\n&#8211;ts Brand Elevation<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.tsbrandelevation.com\/<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Aquino to be honored alongside actress Viola Davis plus Autism and Parkinson\u2019s Disease Awareness Champions EASTON, PA, June 20, 2024 \u2013The Gray Strong Foundation is proud to announce that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=132075\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Lehigh Valley EMT and Founder of Gray Strong Foundation Honored at HollyRod Foundation&#8217;s Design Care 2024 Event<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gray-stron-holly-rod.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132075"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/132076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}