Brooklyn Kiwanis Dinner Gala

Tonight I was invited as a special guest for the Brooklyn Kiwanis Dinner Gala. This evening honored a number of community members for their outstanding work in community development and support.

I was joined by a local celebrity and a dear friend of my own, Christina Moore, Miss Brooklyn 2011. When I say local celebrity I truly mean it. Christina's work to bring Sarcoma awareness to Brooklyn has engaged the entire community.

Tonight was a celebration of all the wonderful work the Kiwanis and their friends are doing in the community. Supporters came from all over Brooklyn to be part of the festivities.

Here is the best news of the night. As I mentioned in my last post, Senator Klien has introduced a bill to tackle cyber bullying in Albany. Among the many esteemed guests at this evening's event was newly elected Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis. Right off the bat I liked this woman; she was incredibly down to earth and paid honest attention to those with whom she spoke and interacted. I took a moment to ask her what she knew about the new bill, and she said she would be happy to get me together with some of its major supporters to learn more and get involved. Senator Marty Golden, who I recognized from our introduction at the Children of the City Gala earlier this year, was also in attendance. I mentioned to him my work with bullying and am thrilled to say that he has committed to supporting our efforts from the Republican end. There you have it, New York: our local representatives are actively involving their community members in the fight. And thus the battle against bullying in New York continues to move forward!!

More wonderful news: I was given an opportunity to speak briefly with the crowd about my work with bullying, and also with Children's Miracle Network. Within minutes of making my speech, I was approached by several individuals and reached my CMN fundraising goal! We have broken the $1000 mark, thank you New York!

This night was full of wonderful new friends, great entertainment, but most of all it was full of goodwill. The Kiwanis truly care about the development of their community and that was perfectly clear tonight. Thank you to the Kiwanis for having me join you, for your incredible support, and for all that you do for the Brooklyn community!