by “Champions” is the watchword for the 2026 Thurman Munson Awards which will be presented by AHRC NYC Foundation at the 46th Annual Dinner on Thursday night, March 12, at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers (23rd Street at West Side Highway) in New York City. The three outstanding honorees are: New York Mets 1986 World Series Champion Bobby Ojeda; two-time Paralympic Gold medalist and world record-holding swimmer Gia Pergolini; and captain of the New York Sirens and women’s hockey Olympic Gold Medalist Micah Zandee-Hart.
The Thurman Munson Awards honor the best in sports for excellence on the fields of play, and the ice rinks and swimming pools of competition, for community service and the betterment of sports.
Marc Deieso, Partner, Gardiner & Theobald, is the recipient of the inaugural Isaacson Family Corporate Hero Award.
The Master of Ceremonies will be FOX 5 lead sports anchor and Sports Extra host Tina Cervasio.
Special guests expected to attend include Football Giants Super Bowl champions Chris Canty and Karl Nelson; Yankees WS Champion Jeff Nelson; former Yankee catcher and baseball television analyst John Flaherty and former Mets pitcher and PIX11 sportscaster Nelson Figueroa.
The Munson Awards dinner, named after the Yankees catcher and captain Thurman Munson, has raised more than $26 million for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thurman’s widow Diana Munson is an honorary chair who has supported AHRC NYC FOUNDATION and its fund-raising efforts through the Thurman Munson Awards for more than four decades.
For media inquiries contact John Cirillo/Cirillo World by email at johnnycigarpr@aol.com or text 914-260-7436.
For tickets call 212-249-6188 or email jennifer@gala-office.com.Tickets may be purchased online at https://www.ahrcnycfoundation.org/events/thurman-munson-awards-2026/.
For more information about the history of the dinner and past honorees, visit https://www.ahrcnycfoundation.org/what-is-the-thurman-munson-awards-dinner/.
