After the #RHbenefit last night our pledge team stayed late at the office to manage all the accounting. Our guests donated an outstanding $80.7 million to help their New York neighbors!! THANK YOU.
A great sight upon exit from the #RHbenefit. Thanks to all for fighting poverty #likeaNewYorker!!
Honored to have grads from #rhfunded schools with us at the #RHbenefit!!
Tonight the Empire State Building shines green for the #RHbenefit. We are excited to have Mary J. Blige, Bono, Elton John and more. Together we can fight poverty #likeaNewYorker!!
The gift bag for our annual benefit was custom-designed in-house at Robin Hood. Harry Winston and Advent generously sponsored the bag which featured men’s and women’s t-shirts that were underwritten by Equinox Fitness, IvyWise and S&P Capital IQ.
Season 9 Project Runway winner Anya Ayoung-Chee donated her designing skills for the women’s t-shirts which featured a creative interpretation of Robin Hood’s archer.
Also inside were one month membership cards to Equinox Fitness, gift certificates from Harry Winston and IvyWise, and Be Robin Hood smartphone cases from Speck Products.
At our annual fund raising benefit, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots and Brian Williams (“Brilliams”) surprised the crowd by Slow Jamming Robin Hood 101 to help explain what makes this one of the most effective poverty fighting organizations around. As Jimmy says, Robin Hood’s fact checkin’ is vigorous and our metrics are rigorous. Well, you just have to see it for yourself…
This year’s event is themed around the subway system, and all the vital connections that the subway (and Robin Hood) make for New Yorkers.
Through the years, we’ve been so fortunate to have the participation of many generous individuals at our benefit event. These people, and many more working behind-the-scenes, help make it truly memorable night.
Tonight, we are thrilled to have Brian Williams and Seth Meyers serve as our hosts for the evening. Previous hosts of the Robin Hood benefit have included Robin Williams, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, Mike Myers, and Jerry Seinfeld.
The co-chairs for the evening are Gretchen & Steve Burke (CEO of NBC Universal), Abby & Eli Manning (NY Giants Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP,) and Sheri & Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks).
The very first benefit was headlined by The Four Tops. Additional past performers have included The Who, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, James Brown, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Beyoncé. Combined, these acts have sold over 1 billion records. Tonight, Rihanna adds her name to that list.
Thank you to all the famous faces who’ve helped make a difference in the lives of fellow New Yorkers.
Tonight’s Robin Hood benefit marks the 22nd annual benefit for our organization. What started as a small get together which raised $700,000 has grown into a 4,000 person event, raising $47 million in 2011.
Turning the Javits Center into the incredible backdrop for tonight’s program is no easy task. In just 2 short days, we’ve installed 2 miles of truss, which is used to hold the lighting fixtures, speakers and decorative elements. Forty-five separate laptop stations will be used to check-in more than 4,000 expected guests. And approximately 500 dozen subway-themed cookies will be brought out as part of tonight’s dessert.
We are looking forward to an incredible evening. Please follow our twitter account (@RobinHoodNYC) and the hash tag #RHBenefit for updates throughout the night.
We’re honored to have Gretchen and Steve Burke, Eli and Abby Manning, and Sheri and Howard Shultz help us raise funds for the 200 best poverty fighting programs in NYC. They are all chairs of our benefit event which will be co-hosted by Brian Williams and Seth Meyers, and feature a concert by Rihanna!
