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October 25, 2023 — The Belafonte Family Foundation marked a historic milestone last night with its first-ever gala at Sony Hall in New York City. Hosted by renowned actor and entertainer Taye Diggs, the event was a resounding success, bringing together prominent figures from the worlds of entertainment, philanthropy, and business.
Throughout the night, guests were treated to world-class entertainment, including captivating performances from neo-classical piano prodigy BLKBOK and The National Dance Institute. Notable attendees included Ruben Blades (Musician), Seth Herzog (Comedian), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Tony Award Winning Actor), Monte Lipman (CEO of Republic Records), Terrence Mann (Tony Award Winner), and Phillip Boykin (Tony and GRAMMY Award Nominated Singer and Actor), all of whom expressed their admiration for the Belafonte Family Foundation's dedication to creating a better world for all.
Photos can be found HERE.
Guests were welcomed to an evening of elegance and sophistication, set against the backdrop of Sony Hall’s iconic architecture. The atmosphere was charged with excitement as attendees mingled and connected over shared values of compassion and social responsibility. The gala showcased the foundation's commitment to creating meaningful change in the world.
A highlight of the evening was a heartfelt address by co-founder David Belafonte, one of the visionaries behind the Belafonte Family Foundation. He spoke passionately about the organization's mission to empower underserved communities, promote education, and advocate for social justice on a widespread scale. Belafonte emphasized the importance of collective action and urged attendees to join hands in supporting the foundation's initiatives.
The Belafonte Family Foundation’s wide-ranging plans are focused on multiple pillars, areas of support that are critical to human development and success: opportunity, education, and health, humanity & well-being. The latter is currently addressed by two of the foundation’s innovative programs: Bright Road Farms, an urban, vertical farming initiative which supplies organically and locally grown greens to underserved communities and food deserts. This distributed farming network, operated in cooperation with Freight Farms, provides nutritional food produced year-round and in any climate. Bright Road Martial Arts recognizes the mentorship and power of martial arts disciplines which improves lives through self-control, self-discovery, and self-respect, offered to qualifying at-risk youth in partnership with leading academies and instructors. Serving over 100 students this summer and fall, between New York and the Dominican Republic alone.
To improve educational opportunities, BFF offers full academic scholarships for selected, deserving students, one of which has provided full scholarships for students in Haiti, inclusive of transportation, books, and food. Those who have received a scholarship were announced at the gala.
Aligned with the foundation’s multi-generational approach, BFF is also creating programs that focus on social justice, wrongful incarceration, sex trafficking, and mental health and wellness.
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