By Jessica Easthope
It’s a New York staple and after the pandemic forced it to go virtual last year, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is back and will be hosted at the Jacob Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan Thursday.
The dinner named for former New York Governor Alfred Smith, the first Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party, has raised tens of millions of dollars over 76 years for vulnerable children and their families in the Archdiocese.
Though this year isn’t exactly a milestone – the dinner will commemorate its 75th diamond anniversary with Condoleezza Rice as the keynote speaker. Rice is the former Secretary of State and the first black woman to hold the title.
Last year the foundation made its mission COVID-19 relief. It awarded four million dollars to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s Emergency Tuition Assistance Program and the Archdiocese for its health services in the most hard-hit areas. Another four million dollars was given to 16 different nonprofits serving families with much needed health care.
“With that funding families were fed, mortgages were paid and children were able to participate in school,โ said Condoleezza Rica.
This year both Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will attend the dinner. It will be Bishop DiMarzio’s last before his retirement.
“This is one of the events where people come together in a friendly, humorous way sometimes and just celebrate and raise some money for charity,โ said Bishop DiMarzio.
In order to ensure safety during the pandemic everyone attending is required to be vaccinated and wear a mask at the dinner.