14th November, 2012

New York Young Leaders Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser 2012

On Wednesday, Nov 14th, the New York Young Leaders packed Tavern 29 in Manhattan for a fundraiser to respond to the New York and New Jersey communities affected by Superstorm Sandy.
  
Our friends Ronan Downs and Croine O’Halloran donated their bar for an evening of fun and fundraising that brought in over $30,000 which will immediately go to aid in the recovery of the communities that were still without basic needs following the natural disaster.

Led by event Co-Chair Rachel Conlan, the committee sold 300 tickets and put together an incredible raffle with a grand prize of an all-inclusive trip to Cancun, Mexico, airfare included. Here is what Rachel had to say about the effort: “Natural disasters can make us feel powerless, but the Young Leaders response to Hurricane Sandy is an incredible example of the power our group has to make an immediate and tangible difference. It was a truly tremendous response.”

Friend of the Fund David Restiano created and donated a unique design to represent the “Irish Riviera” communities of New York and the Jersey Shore affected by Superstorm Sandy. The design was used on 100 T-shirts and every one of them was sold by the end of the evening.

Good music makes the party and thanks to DJ Teal, we had one of the best DJ’s in the City, spinning for us all evening, gratis.
 
The gentlemen at the event were also treated to free shaves by Truman’s Gentlemen’s Groomers, who donated their services for the evening. Guests were asked to donate $20 towards the relief efforts in exchange for the closest shave money can buy.
Young Leader Dean Thomas offered to shave his beard on the spot and through an impromptu live auction raised $800 to remove the aforementioned beard. (See photos for before and after pictures of Dean).

Special thanks to James Higgins for donating his photography skills for the evening. Thank you to Blue Ocean Brokerage and Young Leader Jason O’Connor for being the presenting sponsor of the evening. Thank you to the following Co-chairs: Joe Tully, David McCormack, David Kavanagh and the committee members who helped secure raffle items including: Deirdre Connolly, Bernadette McCabe, and Darrah Carr.