An Evening of Light Gala – Honoring Matt Scheckner
Evening of Light transformed the entire 29th floor of 4 World Financial Center. Brookfield Asset Management generously donated the location, overlooking New York Harbor and the reflecting pools of the 9/11 Memorial.
The welcoming cocktail hour featured a performance of “Survivor Tree” by the band Men in My Head, led byCentury 21 owner Eddie Gindi, who has helped to raise $225,000 for Tuesday’s Children so far in 2013. Click here to purchase the song for $1, all proceeds for which will be donated to Tuesday’s Children.
Tuesday’s Children Board Chair David Weild introduced the evening’s Emcee, Susie Essman of the hit series “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, who entertained dinner guests with her comedy and kicked off a live auction that raised over $115,000, bringing the total raised by the event to over $415,000.
Kevin Parks, who lost his father on 9/11 and is the co-chair of the Tuesday’s Children Junior Board, spoke to the room about his special bond with his mentee, Rodney Wotton. Rodney was born seven days after 9/11 and never met his father who also perished that day. In addition to being a mentor and role model, Kevin has raised more than $40,000 through his charity efforts, including endurance fundraising as a runner in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Kevin’s story was featured in the Huffington Post last week, click here to read the article.
Gala honoree Matt Scheckner, President and CEO of Stillwell Partners and advocate for 9/11 charities, was welcomed to the stage after a surprise beat-box performance by hip hop artist and competitive eater Eric “Badlands” Booker. Don Felder, former lead guitarist of the Eagles, performed “Hotel California” and other hit songs before auctioning off a signed guitar.
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