(From the Irish Emigrant http://www.irishemigrant.com)

On Friday, March 12, The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on Long Island, honored businessman Robert McBride, son of James McBride (Gweedore) and Eilish McBride (Moville), with the 2010 “Favorite Son Award, at their 26th Annual Emerald Ball and Banquet at the Garden City Hotel.

McBride is a Vice President at Park Strategies, LLC and is also independently involved in numerous business ventures both nationally and internationally. As an entrepreneur, business owner, manager and consultant, he has successfully worked with countless individuals and companies creating business opportunities and solutions at every turn.

McBride founded his first company on Long Island when he was just 23 and has always placed a strong emphasis on involvement on the community. With such a commitment to community service, he has served on the board of numerous philanthropies including United Way, Helen Keller Services for the Blind, The Leukemia Society, and he is currently a board member of the Nassau County Law Enforcement Advisory Board.

The Favorite Son award is not the first time that McBride has been honored. In 1999, he was named “Man of the Year” by the NYPD Emerald Society and was also named “Irishman of the Year” in 2005 by The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on Long Island. McBride and his wife Marion live in Dix Hills and have three adult children.

In 1984 a group of Sons of Erin met to discuss the formation of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on Long Island. Among the original purposes of the Society were to promote economic development in Ireland and Long Island, to enjoy fraternity with fellow Friendly Sons and to engage in philanthropic and charitable endeavors on Long Island and in Ireland.

The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on Long Island has enjoyed business and fraternal relationships among its members for more than twenty-five years while at the same time donating substantial funds to charitable endeavors on Long Island and in Ireland. Initially, the first recipients of the Society’s beneficence were the Irish Physically Challenged Youth Team and the New York State Physically Challenged Youth Team. Since then more than $550,000 has been donated by the Society to over eighty organizations.