PRESS
GivKwik and Vodafone Americas Foundation Give Away $20K+
December 15, 2016
Source: GivKwik
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GivKwik and Vodafone Americas Foundation Give Away $20K+
for #GivingTuesday!
New York, New York, December 14, 2016--On the evening of #GivingTuesday, November 29, an eager crowd gathered in downtown Manhattan to watch ten New York City nonprofits pitch their causes on stage in a competition to walk home with a $10,000 grant. Leave it Better Foundation, which teaches kids how to grow food and care for the environment, was voted the winner by the audience. Director Graham Meriwether responded, "We're so humbled and grateful. With the much-needed funds, we'll buy new cameras for our students, and we'll bring our program to a special needs school."
GivKwik, which hosted GIV.NYC, raised over $20,000 through corporate grants, public donations, in-kind donations, and event registration fees, to benefit the featured nonprofits that night. Corporate sponsor Vodafone Americas Foundation generously underwrote the Grand Prize of a $10,000 grant for the top winner. In-kind prizes were offered by Impact Hub NYC, Catchafire, and Headlines for the Hopeful.
"We were very happy to continue our partnership with GivKwik for the GIV.NYC 2016 event," said June Sugiyama, Director, Vodafone Americas Foundation. "It's a great opportunity to engage our New York-based Vodafone employees to learn about local nonprofits and recognize the great work they accomplish. Leave It Better is driving social good in the New York community and GIV.NYC is a great place to showcase their impact."
Comedian Kyle Grooms set the mood for the evening with a standup routine. He was then joined onstage by WNYW/Fox TV meteorologist Audrey Puente to co-host the show. Jenny Santi, author of the book The Giving Way to Happiness, gave an inspiring keynote address, encouraging the audience to find friends to be philanthropic with, saying "Our passion should be the foundation of our giving." As each presenter delivered their message, visual artist Jonny Goldstein of VisualizeGood hand-drew their concepts on canvas. Local musicians Cuarteto Guataca, led by Joshua Levine, provided smooth latin rhythms throughout the night as the house band.
"There are many reasons to be inspired. More importantly, there's a lot of good work that needs to be done. We want people to feel like they can and should take action to instill positive change for their community by learning what others are achieving and by following their lead," said Jason Rosado, CEO of GivKwik.
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For more information contact:
Jason Rosado, CEO, GivKwik
(646) 785-7853
Cyndie Burkhardt, Marketing/PR, GivKwik
(212) 581-5044
cyndie.burkhardt@givkwik.com