BENEFIT EVENTS

A GALA TO CELEBRATE 100 YEARS!
On the evening of April 16th, over 500 of Partnership with Children’s supporters, board members, staff and students celebrated the agency’s 100th birthday at The Pierre Hotel. The Turn of Our Century Centennial Ball raised more than $1.1 million dollars, making it Partnership with Children’s most successful gala to date!

Board members Liz Peek and Bebe Broadwater and board President Thong Nguyen co-chaired the festive event. Outside the hotel entrance, a horse-drawn carriage set the stage for the guests, many attired in period dress, including pearls, fans, and top hats, to acknowledge the creation in 1908 of Big Sisters, the earlier incarnation of Partnership with Children.

The evening was launched at 4:00pm, when CIT and Partnership with Children rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. At the gala, Partnership with Children bestowed the Ann Vanderbilt Award for Achievement to Jeffrey Peek, current Chairman & CEO of CIT, the global financial services company also celebrating its centennial. Isiah Hall, a graduate of our Open-Heart Open Mind program, presented the award to Jeffrey Peek.

Mayor Bloomberg highlighted the cocktail hour with praise for Partnership with Children’s vital work of improving the lives of at-risk New York City public school children. In the official Mayoral Proclamation, he declared April 16, 2008 “Partnership with Children Day.”  The mayor noted the appropriateness of awarding Jeffrey Peek the Partnership with Children Award for Achievement. Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City’s public schools, also joined us for cocktails.

Anthony Ittleson, Wendy Vanderbilt, and Linden Havemeyer Wise--descendants of Big Sisters’ founding ladies Blanche Ittleson, Ann Vanderbilt and Louisine Havemeyer--served on the Gala Founders Committee. Among the guests was the family of Anthony Ittleson, who came to honor his grandmother, Blanche, and his grandfather, Henry Ittleson, who created CIT.

At dinner, Michelle Sidrane welcomed the cheerful crowd and thanked attendees and the supporters of the three-year Centennial Fund Campaign, which was kicked off last Fall. The $3 million fund will support the expansion of Open Heart-Open Mind, the Center for Capacity Building’s professional development and training services, and train Partnership with Children’s staff so that we can extend our program to more children and families in need.

A four-minute video, now posted on our website, recounts the story of the agency’s evolution over the past 100 years.  In the video, Liz Peek thanked the guests for their support, and Isiah Hall thanked Partnership with Children for enabling him to stay in school and become the first in his family to earn a BA and an MBA.

Radio personality Valerie Smaldone conducted a spirited live auction, which included sponsorship for Open Heart-Open Mind’s school newspaper groups. The silent auction raised additional support with donated items such as a Derek Jeter autographed jersey.

Student speaker Luke Padilla, a 6th-grader, brought many in the crowd to tears with his story of how the Open Heart-Open Mind social workers helped him cope with bullying and manage his anger, clearing the path to becoming a better student. “When other kids bothered me, I learned to walk away from them and not to get so upset. I started getting very good marks in class. It felt good. Now, I know how to choose good friends and to avoid people who can get me in to trouble. I think that Partnership with Children should be in every school so that they can help kids like me feel safe, feel better about themselves and succeed in school.”

The magical evening concluded with spirited dancing to the music of the Bob Hardwick Orchestra.