New York, NY – Partnership with Children recently hosted its seventh annual wine and food tasting event, “A Taste of the Good Life,” at the Prince George Ballroom. Nearly 200 guests, including New York City’s captains of industry and leaders in philanthropy, attended.
Gabriela Baron, Margot Takian, and Jessica Zoob, senior vice president, Global Business Development, American Express served as co-chairs. Noted guests included Christopher and Janice Savin Williams of the Williams Capital Group – both long-time supporters of Partnership with Children – Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, and Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of GE and this year’s gala honoree. Daniel Posner of Grapes: The Wine Company, offered guests a selection of fine wines from around the globe.
“Despite this difficult economic time, our mission clearly resonates as demonstrated by the turnout and support we received for this event,” said Michelle Sidrane, executive director, Partnership with Children. “We raised over $100,000 which will help support our Open Heart - Open Mind and Life Steps programs for New York’s most vulnerable children. Relationships with our supporters are key as we expand our programs nationally.”
In addition to fine wines, there were food tastings provided by premiere New York City chefs including star of the Food Network's "Chopped," Alex Guarneschelli of Butter; Jennifer Yee, renowned pastry chef of Aureole; Ryan Angulo of Buttermilk Channel and Albert di Meglio of Olana. Tastings included smoked octopus Carpaccio with herbed cecina and pickled pumpkin and Hudson Valley rabbit rillettes with
radish salad.
A portion of wine sales proceeds benefited Partnership with Children. The event also featured a silent auction and raffle –“Escape to Asia” – including a free five-day, four-night stay for two stay at the world-class hotel, Raffles Beijing, dinner at the restaurant Jaan and a private guided tour of the Forbidden City.
Partnership with Children Inc.’s mission is to strengthen the emotional, social and cognitive skills of at-risk children so they can succeed in school, in society and in their lives. Founded in as Big Sisters, Inc., the organization has been helping children and young people for over 100 years. Its focus has evolved from mentoring low-income, court referred girls to offering a full array of crucial services to at-risk children facing daunting problems in their lives outside of school.
Today, Partnership with Children provides early intervention, preventive services and counseling to over 10,000 students each year, as well as their families, teachers and communities through Open Heart - Open Mind, its school-based program, Life Steps, its preventative care program for adolescents and the Center for Capacity Building, its professional development and training program. The organization’s teams of professional social workers integrate themselves seamlessly into school communities to provide comprehensive support to those children and families who need it most.
www.partnershipwithchildren.org