The EP family was saddened this morning upon hearing of Mr. Steinbrenner’s passing.   To many people Mr. Steinbrenner is a legendary team owner and businessman; at EP he is the person who helped to give Disability Awareness Night (DAN) its start.

In the winter of 2002, Joseph Valenzano, President and CEO of EP Global Communications, reached out directly to the Yankees and Mr. Steinbrenner, then legendary owner of the New York Yankees, in regards to hosting a night at Yankee Stadium solely dedicated to recognizing individuals with special needs and those who care for and support them.   After hearing about the proposed night, Mr. Steinbrenner immediately gave his blessing.  That night we honored General James L. Jones, then 32^nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, his wife Diane and daughter Jennifer who has Fragile X, as well as the original Bill Porter, whose life story as a man who overcame cerebral palsy and became a top sales representative for a food company was chronicled in a made-for-TV program called “Door to Door” starring the award winning actor William Macy.   This night at the ballpark came to be known as Disability Awareness Night and is still an annual event on the Yankees schedule.   Nearly 8 years later, EP still uses that first event at Yankee Stadium as the model for all DAN events.

Since our inaugural event with the New York Yankees, EP has hosted over 220 DAN events across the country, donated over 80,000 tickets to families caring for loved ones with special needs; honored wounded soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen and recognized almost 400 individuals and organizations with the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award.   While there have been a lot of important people along the way who have had a tremendous impact on DAN, Mr. Steinbrenner and his staff were the people who helped make EP’s vision become a reality.