Unions Helps Raise $ for Camp Brooklyn
November 22, 2011
By Bendix Anderson
A star Hollywood director, a leader in healthcare and silent auction came together at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant November 16 to raise money for a good cause.
About a hundred New Yorkers paid $200 apiece to attend the 22nd Anniversary Mickey Mantle’s Community Service Award and Sports and Entertainment Fantasy Auction for Camp Brooklyn. Last year, 400 kids from low-income families in Brooklyn got to spend two weeks at an accredited sleep-away camp, thanks to Camp Brooklyn, a 503(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Several unions sponsored the event, including the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 30 and 94, Teamsters Local 237 and the Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 94. They came out largely to support Mickey Mantle’s Community Service Award recipient Tom Canty, Vice President and General Manager of Labor, Government and Special Accounts for Empire BlueCross BlueShield.
Director Darren Aronofsky also received a Mickey Mantle Award, adding a little star power to the evening. “It’s a great thing to be part of,” said Aronofsky. Last year his film Black Swan received four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. Black Swan also won the Oscar for Best Actress for its star, Natalie Portman.
Disk jockey Ken Dashow, of radio station Q-104.3 FM, ran a live auction including vacations to New Orleans, Palm Beach Gardens and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A silent auction followed for even more goodies, from a Las Vegas vacation to tickets to see the New York Knicks. All told, the evening raised tens of thousands for Camp Brooklyn. Since it just takes $500 to send a child to camp for two-weeks, the evening adds up to good news for dozens of Brooklyn children.
“If each of us does a small amount, it all works,” said Markowitz. “I wish I had enough money to send every kid to camp.”
