At its star-studded annual gala last night featuring performances by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, the Robin Hood Foundation raised $47.4 million, a portion of which will go toward assisting impoverished veterans seeking housing, job training, healthcare and counseling.
This year’s total falls short of the amount raised in 2010, when the gala brought in a record $87.8 million. That year, George Soros offered a matching contribution. In 2009, the Robin Hood Foundation raised $72.6 million.
The event, held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, sold out in mid-April after the foundation announced Lady Gaga would perform. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams hosted the event, and Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers made a surprise appearance. Singers Bennett and Kid Rock performed a new song, “Care,” amid 300 unformed military personnel, while the gala also hosted five Medal of Honor winners from various branches of the military.
Several high-profile executives and celebrities attended the event, including Henry Kravis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gisele Bundchen, Michael Douglas, Martha Stewart, Steven Rattner, and Ron Howard.
Robin Hood board members include Paul Tudor Jones, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, and SAC Capital Advisors’ Steve Cohen. The charity has raised and invested over $1 billion to fight poverty in New York City.
