AIS Hosts the Vice President! - Held at New York’s downtown Tribeca Rooftop, the Benefit Gala Under the Stars on June 3, 2008 was a wonderful night! CBS News’ Byron Pitts (60 Minutes), who has also dealt with stuttering, presented the Freeing Voices, Changing Lives Award to the 2008 Honorees, Anthony C. Hooper, President of US Pharmaceuticals for Bristol Meyers-Squibb and then-Senator Joe Biden.

We’re also very proud of how Vice President Joe Biden spoke so openly about his own stuttering during the 2008 campaign and the positive attention he continues to bring to a largely misunderstood disorder. He gave an unforgettable and inspirational speech which you can watch. The 5-minute highlight video of the Gala is also available on YouTube.

While Joe Biden was inspirational, we think that even he would say that the 3 young men, ages 8 to 11 were even more so. Ray Demintz, Will, and Junior all courageously stood in front of the audience of 250 people and spoke about their stuttering and how AIS has helped them as did our ‘older’ client representative Char Glessner. Char’s Mom was also on hand and spoke from the parent’s perspective.