Annual Robin Hood Benefit Gala Yields $72 Million to Sustain Basic Needs and Support an Infrastructure of Opportunity for Lower-Income New Yorkers

The Weeknd, Keith Urban, Seth MacFarlane, and Oz Pearlman regaled a packed house of 3,500 at the Javits Center, including prominent supporters across business, entertainment, media, sports, and the nonprofit sector, in a night championing hope during a time of uncertainty.

The Jacob Javits Center came alive with the spirit of New York sports — a celebration of resilience, teamwork, and belief. Team Robin Hood stood as a powerful symbol of unity, embodying the very essence of what’s possible when we show up for one another and face challenges together.

Support from Robin Hood donors comes amid a ten-year high in New York City’s poverty rate, where one in four New Yorkers lives in poverty, and 58% of the city’s population survives on incomes less than 200% of the poverty threshold

NEW YORK – Last night, more than 3,500 New Yorkers attended Robin Hood’s annual benefit at the Javits Center to power the philanthropy’s mission to fund opportunity and pathways out of poverty in New York City. The annual benefit raised $72 million, an increase of 6% over the previous year’s total. Since 1988, Robin Hood has invested nearly $3 billion to help New Yorkers permanently escape poverty and 100% of the proceeds funding local grantmaking to provide emergency food, permanent housing, high-quality education, job training and placement in high-growth sectors, access to benefits and legal services, and more serving 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty.

All contributions tallied last night include all ticket sale receipts, cash donations, pledges, and annual gifts from donors whose contributions are motivated by their attendance at the annual benefit.

This year’s benefit was co-chaired by Lauran and Justin Tuck, Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, Laurie M. Tisch, Co-owner of the New York Giants, and Jean and Donald Tang, Chairman of Shein. Our corporate partner co-chair was Kwasi Mitchell, Deloitte.

Co-host of Good Morning America and former NY Giant Michael Strahan welcomed guests into the benefit following a DJ set by Brittany Sky during the cocktail hour. Four-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Keith Urban and Oscar-nominated, Grammy-nominated actor, animator, writer, director, producer, and singer Seth MacFarlane delighted guests during the dinner ceremony. The Weeknd electrified the Javits Center stage in the headlining performance.

We would like to give special thanks to our participating partners, including our exclusive beverage sponsor, Casa Dragones, and our exclusive wine sponsor, Wölffer.

“Supporting the work of Robin Hood this year is more consequential than ever, and last night our donors stepped up again, raising $72 million in the face of a poverty crisis,” said Paul Tudor Jones II, co-founder of Robin Hood and co-chairman of Tudor Investment Corporation. “Any funding cuts to the federal safety net, which currently keeps at least 500,000 low-income New Yorkers out of poverty, risk plunging even more residents into financial hardship. While philanthropy cannot fully compensate for lost federal funding, Robin Hood has a significant impact, and we are incredibly grateful to our supporters.”

The vision for this year’s Benefit creative theme, the look and feel, taps into something embedded in New York’s DNA: sports. The inspiration comes from knowing that for New Yorkers, sports isn’t just entertainment — it’s identity. It’s where resilience lives, where comebacks happen, where belief is born. It’s a universal language of grit, heart, and rising to the occasion — and it mirrors so much of what Robin Hood stands for. Because belief is what fuels our work: belief in second chances, in New Yorkers, and in what’s possible when we show up for each other.

“At Robin Hood, we are expanding opportunity for low-income New Yorkers. We are strengthening the capacity of the organizations that support them. And we are scaling solutions that have proven track records, enabling New Yorkers to permanently move out of poverty,” said Robin Hood CEO Richard R. Buery, Jr.  “That’s what our annual benefit is all about: bringing New Yorkers of all stripes together to make the City of New York more inclusive, more globally competitive, and a better place to live and work, because every New Yorker deserves a fair shot.”

The Robin Hood Annual Benefit by the Numbers:

• Every year, Robin Hood transforms more than 300,000 square feet of the Javits Center into a sensory journey.
• The event’s production staff consists of 1,500 people who work around the clock for 170+ hours to build the space for 3,500 guests.
• Nearly 100 Robin Hood staff were on hand to support the event and the experience of our donors.

Partnering vendors who made this year’s annual benefit a success included:

Catering: Union Square Events (for guests); DEGA Catering (for production/crew)
Choreography: Astarte Creative Inc
Creative, Decor, & Design: David Stark Design & Productions
Draping: Drape Kings
Table & Ticket Management: Event Associates Inc.
Printed Materials: Riverside Graphics
Lighting: 4Wall Entertainment Lighting
Mobile Check-in & Pledging: Checkin Tech LLC; Smartsource; Roswell
Photography: Ronald Antonelli, Travis W Keyes
Production (Event, Show, & Technical): Nimblist
Production Staffing: Theatrical Resources; Pentwater Productions;
Rentals: AFR; Call-A-Head; Dimitri Carpet; Party Rental Ltd.; Pete’s Big TVs; Precise Prompting; Productions on Point; SGPS; Taylor Creative; United Rentals
Rigging: 2XD Productions; C2W
Scenic: Atomic Design
Security, Health & Safety: K-Street Group; The Baghera Group
Sound: Clair Brothers Audio Systems
Staging: All Access
Talent Management: Marty Hom, Inc
Venue: Javits Center
Video: All Mobile Video; FUSE; Livewave
Video Content: Long Story Short

About Robin Hood

We are NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2024, through $129.5 million in grantmaking with 285 community partners, we created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through our strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. We are scaling impact at a population level for the nearly 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more about our work and impact, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Kevin Thompson, Director of Communications, Robin Hood, press@robinhood.org