Fifteen years after the deaths of Amy Perez and her two young children, friends and members of the community who knew the Cross River family are coming together to honor their memories and help create a safer, more hopeful future for others.
“People can always get involved,” said Jody Klayman, a member of the committee organizing the upcoming “Cocktails for a Cause” fundraiser for Amy’s Kisses.
The event, scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Rye Grill & Bar, will mark 15 years in loving memory of Amy, Molly and Gregory.
For Klayman and fellow committee member Madeline Hackmyer, the event is an opportunity to bring together friends of the family, and those who simply want to help carry their legacy forward. While events have been held in other parts of the country, the fundraiser is a homecoming for Amy’s Kisses.
“Nothing has been done in Westchester before,” Klayman said. “Now everyone who was close to them here can get involved.”
Hackmyer said the connection is deeply personal.
“Amy was our best friend,” she said. “We’ve been involved since day one.”
Amy was remembered by family and friends as an accomplished, compassionate and devoted mother. She graduated first in her class from Haverford High School in Pennsylvania before graduating cum laude from Cornell University. She later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
After beginning a career in New York finance with Chase Bank, Amy left the workforce to devote herself to raising her children, Molly and Gregory. Eventually, she returned to work as an SAT tutor and co-founded a college test-preparation organization. Her reputation grew among Westchester families as students sought out her services and benefited from her expertise.
Molly, 10, was described as a social, artistic child who loved to read, following in her mother's footsteps. Gregory, 8, was an athletic boy with a particular enthusiasm for baseball.
Their lives were cut short in October 2011 in an act of domestic violence that devastated family, friends and the Cross River community.
In the aftermath, Amy's sister, Jill Perez Gobora, parents Bobby and Gary Perez, and Amy's lifelong friend, Patti Cush, founded Amy's Kisses in 2012 as a way to honor Amy, Molly and Gregory and turn an unimaginable loss into a commitment to helping others.
Today, that mission reaches well beyond remembrance.
Amy's Kisses supports education, scholarships and programs designed to help young people understand healthy relationships. Its “A Bowl Full of Hearts” program introduces young students to the signs of healthy relationships and encourages conversations about respect and positive relationships. The foundation reports that the program has reached more than 2,100 students through classroom visits and distributed hundreds of books.
The foundation also awards scholarships to students who have demonstrated resilience and determination in overcoming obstacles. Recipients include students at John Jay High School, where Molly and Gregory would have continued their education. By supporting learners at JJHS, the organization carries Amy’s legacy forward to a new generation.
For those organizing the Oct. 17 event, that emphasis on the future is an important part of remembering Amy and her children.
“We’re keeping their memories alive,” Hackmyer said. “You didn’t have to know them personally to be affected.”
Klayman said that after 15 years, the fundraiser provides a way for people who have carried the memory of the family to turn that grief into something constructive.
“Even 15 years later, this gives people an outlet and becomes a way to honor their memory,” she said.
The foundation describes the Oct. 17 gathering as a celebration of Amy, Molly and Gregory and an opportunity to support its mission of creating a “brighter, safer future for the next generation.” All proceeds from the event will benefit Amy’s Kisses.
In that sense, the committee hopes the evening will be about more than looking back. It will be about remembering three lives, celebrating the people they touched and giving the community a way to help young people move forward with greater knowledge, opportunity and hope.
To learn more about Amy’s Kisses, make a donation, or purchase tickets for the Oct. 17 event, visit amyskisses.org
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