The Partnership With Children hosted their annual Food and Wine Tasting at the beautifully renovated Prince Geoge Ballroom.

Bar Breton

Guests were treated to delectable food treats from: Dos Caminos; Inside Park at St. Bart's; Butter; Buttermilk Channel; Bar Breton; Olana; Aureole; and John Wincroft smoked salmon specialist. The wines for the evening were provided by Daniel Posner of Grapes the Wine Company. The wines included selections from: Australia; California; France; Germany; and Italy. The wines for the evening were for sale and a portion of the proceeds of the sale was donated to Partnership With Children. The food selections were amazing and tasting them gave this writer a new list of "must visit" restaurants and a fantastic website, grapesthewineco.com, for any future wine purchases.

Here is a quote from the Partnership With Children website: Partnership with Children is a not-for-profit organization that provides emotional and social support to at-risk children so that they can succeed in school, in society and in their lives.We help children and young people in need, their families and their schools through our school-based Open Heart - Open Mind and Life Steps programs as well as through our Center for Capacity Building. We provide intervention and preventative services, counseling and leadership development. Founded in 1908 as Big Sisters, we have served the New York City community for 100 years.

Michelle Sidrane, the Executive Director of the Partnership With Children, spoke to the group, telling stories about the Partnership's work with individual children including the story of a little girl who was coming to school late everyday. The Partnership was notified by the child's school and they set to work. They discovered that the little girl's family had been evicted from their home and forced to move to a shelter that was far from the little girl's school. The child did not wish to switch school, but she also had no money so everyday she would get on a city bus and ask the driver if she could ride for free. Sometimes it would take several hours before she would find a driver who would allow her to ride so she was late for school on many days. The Partnership intervened and arranged for her to have a city bus pass. They also worked with the family and helped them to find permanent housing and helped the mother find employment. They also supplied the counseling the little girl needed to deal with the upheaval in her life. And because of the Partnership's help, the child is now blossoming.

And this has been the story of the Partnership's work in thousands of children's lives. They intervene on a one-on-one basis; become a child's partner and together they change a life, one life at a time.

Gabriela Baron, Margot Takian, and Jessica Zoob, senior vice president, Global Business Development, American Express served as co-chairs for the evenings events and the "word on the street" is that over $100,000 was raised from both ticket sales and silent auction proceeds to help New York's neediest school children.

For more information about the Partnership With Children, log onto their website.