Bronx Children’s Museum Gala raises half a million $$
BY ALEX MITCHELL
With its anticipated 2020 arrival
on the borough’s Harlem
River waterfront, the Bronx
Children’s Museum raised a
massive $500,000 during its
third annual benefi t gala on
Tuesday, May 7, at Manhattan’s
Gotham Hall.
Dedicated to the children of
the Bronx past, present and future,
the gala honored and celebrated
some of the borough’s
most notable like: famed acting
icon Rita Moreno, hiphop
production mogul Shawn
‘Pecas’ Costner, gala co-chair
Kerry Washington, The View’s
Sunny Hostin, Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr., actress
Sonia Manzano, formerly
‘Maria’ of Sesame Street, and
Grammy-nominated drummer
Bobby Sanabria.
Hostin was once again
hosting the evening, while
Moreno delighted guests with
a personal story of her arrival
in the Bronx as a young child
from Puerto Rico, and encouraged
those in the audience to
dream big.
“It is important for all children
to have a museum available
to them for every reason
in the world that you can
think of for creative reasons
or reasons of curiosity, “ said
Moreno.
Currently, the Bronx Children’s
museum functions as
a ‘museum without walls,’
serving almost 18,000 Bronx
youngsters annually.
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It’s through innovative mobile
programming that the
wall-less museum engages
children and adults in the arts
and sciences using its bus as
a roving learning environment.
The museum also has
temporary exhibits and ongoing
afterschool and summer
programming throughout the
borough at community based
organizations, schools, shelters,
libraries, local festivals
and parks.
The evening of the gala,
the borough president had the
pleasure of introducing his
friend and the ‘Roc Nation’
executive and hip-hop community
leader Costner to the
stage, presenting him with one
of the 2019 Bronx Children’s
Museum Imagination Awards
given out that evening.
After that, Diaz shared
very kind words regarding the
museum and its mission.
“I am so proud of the work
being done by Bronx Children’s
Museum. We believe in
this vision because we know
what happens when you give a
Bronx girl or a Bronx boy an
opportunity,” Diaz said.
He continued on, saying
how ‘Bronx DNA’ and an opportunity
to conquer the world
do go hand in hand.
“It allows them to dream,
to expand their imagination,”
Diaz said.
Other attendees included
Councilwoman Vanessa L.
Gibson, philanthropist Amber
Sabathia, the Voice of New
York, Angie Martinez, former
Def Jam executive Steve Bartels
and retired New York Giants
wide out, Victor Cruz.
Also honored was prolifi c
landscape architect Jonathan
Marvel, who was a notable
force behind the Bronx’s Mill
Pond Park.
Marvel’s own ecological
marvel will eventually neighbor
the museum in roughly a
year.
Currently, he’s also piloting
some ambitious solar energy
projects in his native
Puerto Rico in response to the
damage caused by hurricanes
Irma and Maria.
Another highlight of the evening
was an endearing dance
routine performed by four second
grade children in the museum’s
Dream Big After School
program, which of course
prompted a standing ovation.
The evening concluded
with a performance by Sanabria,
which brought the enthusiastic
audience to the
dance fl oor.
Sean ‘Pecas’ Costner (l) and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Bronx Children’s Museum
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