The Great Gatsby Gala raised $ 961,000 for the Children’s Museum Houston. Here’s how they’re going to spend it.
The annual Houston Children’s Museum Gala is well known for its light program, significant fundraising, and overall a hell of a good time. Before the pandemic, the party was easily in seven figures, often with slim zero speakers, winners, or paddle requests.
Last week’s “Great Gatsby Gala”, chaired by Devorah and David Krieger and Ashley and Jonathan Sloan, went very well. The quartet raised $ 961,000 to the Corinthian. Most of these funds will go to the free admission programming of the Children’s Museum.
“We never turn down someone who cannot pay. We want to be accessible to all children,” says Development Director Tracy Golden. “Anyone on state benefits can present their Lone Star Card or Texas WIC card and enter for free at any time. “
It refers to the state’s special supplementary nutrition program for women, infants and children; and, the city’s plastic debit card available for temporary assistance for needy families and recipients of food benefits from the Supplementary Nutritional Assistance program.
Admission to the Children’s Museum is also free every Thursday evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. No question asked.
“People can come and there is no charge,” Golden shares. “We partner with just over 1,200 social service agencies, including the food bank, women’s shelters and faith-based organizations. Through Open Doors, these organizations can register with us to become partners and we send them an unlimited number of free passes. These families can come to the museum at any time. “
The Children’s Museum serves 1.3 million local youth each year – including their parents and guardians – more than any other children’s museum in the United States. incumbent demographics to reflect the socioeconomic and cultural demographics of Greater Houston.
In 2019, 48% of visitors were Hispanic or Latino; 23% black; 21% white; and 7% of Asian Americans.
“It’s pretty standard every year and it matches the lineup in Houston,” Golden notes.
With this diversity in mind, all of the Children’s Museum’s programming is bilingual – primarily English and Spanish, although Mandarin and other languages are also incorporated. The Children’s Museum offers seven bilingual parent engagement programs at 298 locations, including 39 Houston Public Library branches and 54 underperforming HISD elementary schools.
“Parents are often a child’s first teacher,” Golden says. “These programs are meant to give parents confidence. In Houston, so many parents are not confident in their ability to teach their own children because they have a low level of education or because English is not available. not their mother tongue. “
Behind the free entry, part of the gala’s unrestricted fundraising benefits educational outreach.
“Before COVID, there was more dollars coming from parking, entrance tickets, the gift shop and our cafe,” Golden said. “Because we are limiting participation and there is hesitation related to the pandemic, less money is coming in. This is why the money raised at the gala is so critical now.”
Gala and auction chairs Lexi Sakowitz Marek and Natalie Steen have set an initial fundraising goal of $ 500,000. As of the date of the event, they had raised over $ 798,000 and by the end of the evening, that number had grown to almost $ 1 million.
The generous crowd, consisting mostly of young couples with young children, may not realize that the profits support Welcome Baby, which provided 5,326 bags of resources to new low-income parents in 2019. Or the Houston program Basic, which accommodates five parents and infants. toddler workshops every year.
Big numbers and a rocky night are all the rage for Jay Gatsby, though Golden is hoping to spread the word of the Children’s Museum’s mission far and wide a la Nick Carraway.
“Nobody knows what we’re doing outside of the museum building,” she says. “I’m going to mention some of the programs that we have and so many people say, ‘I didn’t know you all did that. “”