On Tuesday, February 25th, The Children’s Museum of the East End (CMEE) hosted their annual ‘CMEE In the City’ fundraising dinner at Apella in New York City. The evening was hosted by comedian, and former co-host of “The View,” Joy Behar, and honored former CMEE Board Officers Beatrice Alda, Natalie Barth and Victoria Graham, for their instrumental roles in the museum’s growth and success.

This year’s dinner welcomed a record 180 guests, and raised over $200,000 for the Museum’s annual operations. The evening’s menu prepared by Tom Colicchio’s Riverpark, included buffalo milk burrata with heirloom squash and pomegranate, with either roasted branzino or beef sirloin as an entree, followed by an espresso-chocolate mousse cake for dessert.  The intimate dinner featured a live auction run by Christie’s auctioneer Caroline Ervin, with a Caribbean Escape to the Dominican Republic fetching the top bid of the evening at $6,500.  During the cocktail hour, mentalist Ken Salaz mingled with the crowd, and wowed guests with tricks ranging from mindreading, pickpocketing, and he even removed a gentleman’s watch twice, without his noticing.

Guests in attendance included: Arlene & Alan Alda who were on hand to support their daughter Beatrice, a founding mother of the museum, and one of the evening’s three honorees.  They were joined at their table by close friend Joy Behar (the evening’s host) and her husband Steve Janowitz.  Additional guests included: Amy Tarr, President of the CMEE Board of Trustees, and Stephen Long, CMEE’s Executive Director.

The Children’s Museum of the East End is located in Bridgehampton, and is one of the most visited museums on Long Island, welcoming over 60,000 guests annually. Aside from offering families a safe environment to “learn through play,” the museum also works to support the East End community by partnering with local social service agencies to provide vital programming addressing issues affecting underserved families such as, assisting parents and children affected by domestic violence, educating young families about childhood obesity and the importance of nutrition, and promoting literacy and language acquisition for immigrants.

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CMEE recently announced a $2 million Capital Campaign that will support the addition of several new interactive exhibitions, allow them to expand their pre-existing community programs in order to serve more children and families, and establish an endowment to ensure a sustainable future for the Museum. The first new exhibition will be unveiled in time for the summer.

Steve long addressed the museum’s important role in the community during his speech saying, “For so many families marginalized on the East End, CMEE provides assistance to children with special needs, English classes to recent immigrants, and a “Head Start” preschool for dozens of low income families.”

More about the Children’s Museum of the East End (CMEE):

The Children’s Museum of the East End is one of the most visited museums in Eastern Long Island, and welcomes over 60,000 visitors annually.  The Museum opened in 2005 and boasts over 7,000 square feet of interactive, hands-on exhibits, classrooms, and performance space.  CMEE’s mission is to enrich the lives of children and families and strengthen the East End community by promoting learning through play. For more information, please visit www.cmee.org.