Valerie McFadden-Walkerhas recently been named an"Outstanding Advocate and Children & Youth on Long Island"VALERIE McFADDEN-WALKER is one of the top individuals to receive the 2nd Annual OUTSTANDING ADVOCATE FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH AWARD on October 17th for outstanding civic and community support!  Help support Valerie in her goal to raise a minimum of $1,000 for this important fundraiser.Proceeds support the John J. Byrne Community Center of Uniondale's programs and services for the children and families of the region! Valerie McFadden-Walker is a resident of Uniondale, New York, a mother, wife, and caregiver in the communities that she was raised, works and lives in for the past forty seven years. Mama Mac as she is known by many is the mother to a son Shawnn A. McFadden a local entrepreneur and her daughter Jazmine D. McFadden who is a  2012  graduate  earning her MBA at Hampton University in Virginia . Both her children are graduates of the Uniondale School district.  She is married to Anthony A.Walker a Chef at the Bristol Assisting Living Facility.  Ms. McFadden is a graduate of the Hempstead School district and earned her Bachelors Degree from Adelphi University Garden City New York, May 2005.Ms McFadden became involved in the Human Services field at the age of fourteen working at local community based agencies in Hempstead through the JTPA Youth Employment program. She discovered her need to work with young people when she became pregnant with her son Shawnn in her senior year of high school.  The stigma and the treatment of the adults and her peers was so  humiliating. Her English teacher Mr. Perpingano stepped up to assist her with resources and support systems to help her through this difficult time. This allowed her to complete high school as scheduled and gain employment to support her son. She worked for the Agency that assisted her for twenty-five years. She had the opportunity to work with those who assisted her as they continue to work with teenage mothers 29 years after changing her life.Ms. McFadden worked for Mercy Hospital and Nassau County EOC 1981-1984, before becoming employed by Family Service Association now known as Family and Children’s Association in November 1984.  She was hired as a Youth Counselor in the Case Management component she advanced in the agency holding positions as a Case Management Supervisor, Pre-Post Institutional Counselor and a position as a Youth Specialist for the Promise Project an after school program in Hempstead with the same agency. She completed her 25th year with this agency on November 24, 2008. She is currently employed by the Uniondale School District as a Teaching Assistant in the discipline component at Uniondale High School and she holds a position as a  Direct Support Personnel for AHRC of Nassau County in a group home setting for individual with mental and physical disabilities. Mrs. McFadden has had the opportunity to work and volunteer with the following resources servicing young people in the communities of Roosevelt, Westbury, Freeport, Hempstead and Uniondale:1.Nassau Community College Liberty Partnership Program Servicing youth in the Roosevelt School district as a Parent Coordinator/Youth Counselor and Nassau Community College Gear up Rights of Passage Servicing the Students of the Westbury school district as the Female Component Coordinator 1991-2000. 2. Roosevelt E.O.C. as a Youth Consultant for the Youth Program. 3.A Early College Awareness Consultant for Ricky Cook Associate servicing youth in the Hempstead & Freeport School district 1997-2000.  Her volunteering was done with the Hempstead PAL under the direction of Detective Al Balsamo holding positions as an Assistant coach for Basketball and Coordinator for the first PAL step team and step competition activity.Ms. McFadden was honored in March 2005 by Innovative Seminars, LLC Alluring Occasions for Business and Professional Women’s Award Gala receiving the Community Service Award. The Perseverance Service Award from Glory House in 2008. As well as an article in Newsday regarding her community activism in September 2008. This lead to the Uniondale High School student body celebrating by having McFadden Day on September 19, 2008 complete with a video presentation, a sandwich named in her honor and presentations by students and staff.One of her passions is helping young people avoid the increased violence that is so prevalent in the local communities of Long Island. Gang violence and youth violence has directed her in the field of providing workshops through out the communities of Long Island to educate parents, youth and the community at large of the issues facing our young people on Long Island beginning in 1999. She accomplishes this with a full presentation following life and death of young people from the Long Island community. She can always be found supporting young people and their families in positive and negative situations that occur in the communities. She prides herself in how she is viewed by the young people in the community. She feels if a young person can say good things about you in the field of Human Services and Schools then and only then are you a success. Youth are the future and if she does not invest her time in them then she feels she has failed.                                                                         Her biggest achievements has been assisting her children through their growth and development and the many certificates, cards and letters that she has received from young people who have helped her to become the woman that she continues to grow to be by giving of herself to them. She believes that if she can’t be around young people her life would be missing a piece of the puzzle. She does not count the children she has helped she just never forgets who they are and the reward of their success when they let her know they have reached their goal.  She also believes that when a young person has gone down the wrong path that you don’t give up on them that you understand there minds are still developing. She believes you must take the time to understand the issue and be there when they are ready to make the U-turn on the Highway of Life. The 2nd Annual ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH AWARDS COCKTAIL RECEPTION takes place on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 6pm to 8pm, at the Bethpage Lecture Hall, Applied Science Foundation for Homeland Security, 510 Grumman Road West, Bethpage.  To register or for more information, call Tracey Gittere at (516) 222-0550 ext 127 or TGittere@LegendaryEvents.net       Visit EventBrite.com for pricing.