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CHILDREN
FOR CHILDREN |
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Marcia Vickers, an editor
at Business Week Magazine, called
me one day and asked if I’d like to meet Silda Wall,
a friend of hers who had created an organization called “Children
For Children.” Marcia thought that since New York Social Diary covers
so many philanthropic and charity events, we should know about this one
in which children are also encouraged to participate in helping other children.
Marcia also told me that Mrs. Wall is married to Elliot Spitzer,
our state Attorney General who has made quite a name for himself exposing,
among other things, a lot of corporate helping of themselves. Mr. Spitzer
is now planning on running for governor of New York.
Frankly, I was as interested in meeting Ms. Wall because
of that. It’s
not every day that you get to meet a candidate for a major office, or his
or her partner. So we made a lunch date.
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DPC,
Silda Wall Spitzer, and Marcia Vickers
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I was
a few minutes late, which is recognized by many others as
my habit (or fault), and which it is ... partly. Me and the
traffic situation in New York City, which is completely chaotic
thanks to: 1. too many cars and trucks, and 2. mid-town traffic
re-directing which I often think was designed by nihilists
operating in the Bloomberg administration.
I had no idea what to expect on meeting Ms. Wall. My imagination
couldn’t
provide an image of the kind of woman who would be married to Attorney
General Spitzer whose image I’d seen a million times on the business
pages of all the papers.
As you can see from the picture taken of us
at Michael’s, Mrs. Wall is a very attractive
young woman in her mid-forties. With a degree from Harvard
Law. She, like Mrs. Vickers, grew up in the South – North
Carolina and Mississippi respectively. Like many of us
New Yorkers, Ms. Wall’s hometown was small – where
you knew your neighbors or at least were well aware of
their presence and their lives in general.
It is not so easy for children growing up in the metropolis
to know about their contemporaries’ lives, outside of the small circles they live
in. Many children who live in the privileged environs of Manhattan, who
attend private schools and summer and weekend at their parents’ country
places, are totally unaware of the other (and larger) side of city life
where children (and adults) encounter all kinds of deprivation daily.
This matter had been on Ms. Wall’s mind
for a long time. She and Mr. Spitzer have
three daughters – 14, 11, and 9 – who are growing
up here in Manhattan. One day she and her husband were
on a motor trip and were discussing the excess of children’s
birthday parties in Manhattan and a certain socio-economic
strata of Manhattan where money seems to be no object for
anything, including kids’ birthday parties.
The Spitzers both agreed they wanted their daughters to be exposed to a
bigger world, namely real life. Children For Children was
borne out of that discussion and was founded in 1996 by parents who shared
the Spitzers’ concerns for their children.
The mission is to find ways to promote hands-on youth volunteering
and giving, so the more privileged children among us will learn about the
world they are growing up in and also the value of being involved in their
community. The main emphasis has been on providing resources to under-served
schools.
Their first program: the Birthday Party Program focused
on establishing a simple way to make helping other children a part of the
event. They chose “birthdays” because it is something almost
all children celebrate from an early age. The kids of these founding parents
were asked to take part of the money they would spend on a birthday party
and instead pledge it to help under-served schools purchase supplies, such
as musical instruments.
The reason for emphasizing helping with matters of education is that all
children can relate to or empathize with what it must be like to try learning
without enough resources.
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Children
from CFC's 2004 "Grow Involved Educator Award" benefit
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The first year, the Children For Children’s
annual fund was $2600. Last year it was close
to $200,000. Since that original Birthday Party program,
CFC has evolved into a series of youth service and philanthropy
programs which encourage young people to Get Involved. As
of March 2004, contributors have given thousands of hands-on
volunteer hours and almost $1 million for resource grants
throughout the City’s five boroughs, directing them
to under-resourced schools and teachers, for books, funds
to purchase computers, art supplies, math materials, musical
instruments and instruction, science equipment, gym equipment
and school improvements such as murals and garden projects.
They’ve also supplied almost a half million new and “gently
used” books in the schools.
More than 120,000 children have benefited from these gifts. CFC also has
developed programs to engage children within their own communities to participate
in youth service, which offers powerful lifelong benefits such as learning
responsibility, leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
All of the children are exposed to experiencing greater self-respect, character
development and discipline. It increases motivation and work in their studies.
It also naturally encourages tolerance and a broader perspective of the
world.
People like Silda Wall and her supporters, contributors and colleagues
have discovered something powerful (and obvious), which is that children
love participating in their community. They love being part of constructive
activity that improves or positively affects the lives of others. They
experience the same exhilaration that adults experience from giving because
it is a natural force. Everybody wins in these situations, especially the
children. And the future.
Children For Children are celebrating
their 9th anniversary on April 21 with a cocktail party
and live reception at Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller
Plaza, from 6 to 8:30 PM.
There will be an Apres Benefit dinner in Christie’s Boardroom at
8:45 PM. They’re honoring “Champion for Children,” Joe
Versace and Jan Constantine. This will also feature
a “lively discussion on why family service matters more than ever." The
discussion will be moderated by Scott Stossel, author
of Sarge, a biography of Sargent Shriver; and
a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly.
Tickets for the cocktail reception are $1000, $500, $250 and $125 (junior/under
35). Tickets for the dinner are $2500 per person (or $25,000 a table).
Limited seating available. For more information call 212-759-1462
or visit www.childrenforchildren.org.
Net proceeds from ticket sales for these events will become
part of CFC’s
2005 Annual Fund to purchase resources, support social service and educational
enrichment programs for selected schools striving to provide quality education
to under-resourced communities, and to support CFC’s programs and
operations. |
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