Museum Celebrates 1 Million

On Thursday night, April 29th, the Jewish Children’s Museum hosted its Fifth Annual Dinner, celebrating ‘one million kids’ in five years since opening.

In the beautifully and tastefully decorated Museum, guests mingled and enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres and unique cigar rolling station.

The Master of Ceremonies was TV personality Dave Price of CBS News, The Early Show. The audience was kept laughing with his witty commentary as he introduced the distinguished honorees of the evening.

Mr. Vincent Capuano, President of Dynamic Marketing Inc. was the Guest of Honor and Mr. Joseph Billy Jr., Vice President/Global Security of Prudential, was honored with the Ari Halberstam Memorial Award. Devorah Halberstam, Director of Foundation and Government Services, delivered a heartfelt passionate speech on the importance of fighting terrorism and thereby perpetuating the memory of her son Ari, O’BM.

The well-known Rabbi Joseph Potasnik humorously introduced the recipient of the Public Safety Award, FDNY Commissioner, the Hon. Salvatore Cassano. The Civic Leadership Award was awarded to the Hon. Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President, whose acceptance speech greatly entertained the audience.

Seth Edwards, Vice President, Community Relations at JPMorgan Chase, was honored with the Community Service Award for his work in creating the Public School Initiative at the Museum which allows children from Public Schools to visit the Museum for free. Beth Brodsky and Josh Kline, members of the Young Leadership Committee at the Museum, were both honored with the Young Leadership Award.

Many political representatives, including the Israel Consul General Asaf Shariv, Dr. Palitha T.B Kohona, UN Ambassador for Sri Lanka, were amongst the prestigious guests.

A fascinating JCM video, ‘Our Next Five Years”, gave the guests an exciting taste of what is to come in the Museum, with tantalizing glimpses of the new exhibits on the Fourth Floor and an interview with the designer and project manager, Steve Samuels.

Following the entertaining program, the guests enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner.