Reach Out and Read of Greater New York (ROR GNY) hosted its 10th anniversary celebration on Monday, April 20, 2009 at the elegant Tribeca
Rooftop in lower Manhattan. The gala dinner and auction was attended by guests from the publishing, entertainment and sports industries and reached the organizations fundraising goal of $190,000. All proceeds from the event will benefit children in the New York region served by ROR GNY, an organization that puts books into the hands of children through pediatricians, nurses and other health care providers. Hoda Kotb of the Today Show on NBC emceed the program honoring literacy champions Justin Tuck, record-breaking Defensive End for the NY Giants, and his wife Lauran Tuck, as well as Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, a well-loved book writing team. In a joint statement, Traci Lester, executive director, and Maria Gotsch, board chair, ROR GNY welcomed guests to a magical evening and milestone celebration. To everyone who shares our belief in the importance of providing children with books and a life-long love of reading, we offer you our most profound thanks. We hope that you have a wonderful time this evening, and that we can continue to count you among our friends in our ongoing effort to reach as many children with as many books as possible. Keith Dawkins, general manager, Nicktoons Network, and senior vice president, programming partnerships, Nickelodeon, and 10th anniversary benefit committee chair, presented ROR GNYs distinguished literacy champion awards to the esteemed honorees for their outstanding work in providing great reading materials to the underserved. Justin and Lauran Tuck founded R.U.S.H (Read, Understand, Succeed, Hope) for Literacy in 2008. This new initiative donates books and other reading materials to schools in New York and Justins home state of Alabama.
“It was an honor to be recognized for our philanthropy by Reach Out and Read, a non-profit that shares our belief that by helping children get access to new books, and showing them the joy of reading those books, we can both make the world a better place, the Tucks said.