ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Boys and Girls Club of Rochester celebrated their 15th annual Lifetime Achievement Award dinner Saturday night.

The event is meant to recognize community members who have made a significant impact on the Rochester community.

This year’s honoree is Marc Iacona who co-founded the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

Iacona says he is honored to be recognized for his hard work, but more importantly grateful to see the community come together to support a great cause.

“When people come out, like I said it’s kind of like a reunion seeing everybody that I work with and people I haven’t seen in years,” Iacona said. “And they’re all coming out for the cause of helping the Boys and Girls Club in Rochester, because that’s what this really is all about. This is about affecting the future in a positive way. Creating a thirst for individuals to know that they can actually grow on something and that they have a support mechanism that’s there during the day.

Organizers told News 8 this is also the first time they’ve been able to host the gala since 2020.