Photography by Matthew Sussman.
Wow, what a night! Thank you to everyone who made LINC’s 2024 Spring Gala a huge success. We raised over $775,000 and counting to continue helping thousands of young children become lifelong readers!
Watch the video we shared at the gala, featuring our incredible volunteer and LINC Very Involved Parent (VIP), Sandra Patricio.
We were joined by friends, colleagues, and supporters old and new to celebrate and present the Mimi Levin Lieber Legacy Award to Jeanine Nadler. A special thanks goes out to PIX 11 Anchor Dan Mannarino, our 2024 Gala Emcee, and his buddy, LINC Very Involved Kid (VIK) Ethan Figueroa. The room was inspired by our Voices of Literacy in Community participants and our incredible Very Involved Parent (VIP) Sandra Patricio - all of whom truly exemplify what literacy in community looks like in action.
Finally, we were so proud to premiere an original spoken word poetry performance by Shanelle Gabriel! You can read her beautiful poem celebrating LINC below.
LOVE AND LEARNING IN COMMUNITY
by Shanelle Gabriel
When was the first time you wandered
Within the pages of a book
When the story tickled the warm places within you
When the characters served as answers
To the silent questions your hid inside of yourself
Maybe it was Goodnight Moon calling your pillow to your head
The Little Engine that Could refusing to be confined
To the bottom of a mountain
Or Dorothy having the power to save herself from OZ the entire time
Remember feeling like finishing a cement block of a Harry Potter book was your biggest
accomplishment
Or Maya Angelou singing our resilience from within a bird’s confinement
The ability to find residence in the safety of reading
The joy of reading
Should not be a privilege
But a priority
With disproportionate reading proficiencies
Impacting the most vulnerable within
Diverse racial and ethnic communities
We know pouring literacy into early development
Concretizes the most equitable society
Reading comprehension can determine future economic security
So,
Close your eyes with me
And imagine a toddler perched on his mother’s lap
Listening to colorful stories
Eyes lit with laughter
Imagine a mother learning to read English alongside her young daughter
Connecting kids in parks with books as another form of play
See families in white tees in a cluster on the A train
Singing loudly
Reading books that bring to life their trip on the subway
Imagine easing the transition from learning to read
To reading to learn
These are the moments Literacy in Community works to weave into our world
Manifesting the goal of Mimi Levin Lieber
That language and early learning are levers
Lifting all into higher levels of achievement
That there is power in collective building
Crafting environments
Where community and empowerment
Live on the same page in our thesaurus
With a focus on the child as the heart
The parent the body
We generate the energy of Literacy in Community
Centering on quality and consistency of access
Crafting programs with special intent
To increase educational success and making a movement
To awaken dreams for the next generation
Where diverse populations have the tools
To build foundations in both homes and schools
Planting the minds of newborns to age five in literacy-rich soil
Watering their parents and guardians
Making countless NYC neighborhoods their garden
Bringing radical joy so they can bloom
LINC advocates for our children
By bringing those who have been
Traditionally undervalued and underresourced Into the room
And when all are dedicated to
Unlocking our children’s potential
Transforming futures and creating lasting change
Becomes more than just a goal
It becomes inevitable
Thank you, everyone. We are already looking forward to next year!
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