The 2nd Annual Like A Daisy Fundraising Ride: Enhancing the Lives of Individuals with Disabilities

Like A Daisy has been started in honor of Samantha Eliades, who had Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). Samantha passed away, unexpectedly, on September 28, 2023, from a pulmonary embolism, which shocked her family and her extended community. Although Samantha's 34 years of life involved her enduring her challenging disability, Samantha lived a life filled with immense joy, lots of laughs, travel and culture, singing and dancing, and she was surrounded by a tremendous amount of love from her family and friends. Samantha truly was a bright light, and she impacted everyone who knew her, without even trying. She was, and continues to be, loved by all who knew her, and it has been apparent that her impact on the world has truly survived her. 

In light of this tremendous loss, Samantha's family decided to start Like A Daisy, a nonprofit with the mission of enhancing and improving the lives of individuals with disabilities through connecting them to their faith, organizing social events, and advocating for their specialized care. The nonprofit is called Like A Daisy because that was one the famous Sam-ism's that she would say, meaning to say that she "slept like a baby" but instead saying "she slept like a daisy." In fact, she told her sister, Marissa, that she slept like a daisy on their last phone call, the day before she passed.

In such a short time, Like A Daisy has been able to accomplish so much, including:

1) Project Sam - an advocacy initiative reconnecting individuals with special needs to their faith. We have 6 churches (and counting) on board to participate in this initiative.

2) Like A Daisy Sunday School - established a Sunday School for individuals with disabilities, to learn, connect to their faith, socialize, and create long lasting relationships.

3) Night To Shine - funded the AMC Night to Shine for the 2nd year in a row, which is an extraordinary night, where we host a prom for individuals with disabilities.

4) Like A Daisy Float - individuals with disabilities and their families participated in the Greek Independence Day Parade in Manhattan, on the Like A Daisy Float. 

5) Upcoming Sponsorships/Events - partnering with local non-profits which are geared towards helping individuals with disabilities (ie, Luv Michael, Surfers Healing and The Bridge Arts Institute)

The 2nd Annual Like A Daisy Fundraising Ride will be held on September 27th at SoulCycle-Roslyn at 1:30pm. All donations will contribute to the mission of bringing joy to a community of individuals who are so often overlooked and supporting their incredible families.