On Saturday March 7th, 2015, over 180 members, supporters, and friends of Young Variety New York attended our annual Open Your Heart event at the Brooklyn Brewery in support of Variety the Children’s Charity of New York. The event was a huge success, attracting many new faces and raising over $3,000 for Variety New York’s youth.
Guests filled up the tasting room for unlimited beer, including some special brews only available at the Brooklyn Brewery itself. The Brooklyn Brewery has been a proud supporter of the arts, music, and community efforts since its founding in 1988. Its founder skipped traditional advertising in favor of donating beer to small theaters, art galleries, performers, museums, advocacy groups, and more, helping to make their work and events something special—exactly our approach with Young Variety’s Open Your Heart event.
Beyond the beer, delicious burritos were provided by Chipotle. Home baked cookies and cupcakes were generously prepared by one of the volunteers who also served as our fantastic photographer for the evening. Young Variety New York members certainly know how to make an event a success!
Another thing Young Variety New York knows how to do is wrangle prize donations! Thanks to overwhelming support from film studios and local businesses, including Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company, Paramount, Universal, Brooklyn Bowl, NY Mets, Lincoln Center, and On Location Tours, some amazing prizes were given away through a traditional raffle as well as an instant-pull contest. In hopes of encouraging increased raffle ticket purchases, guests who bought 5 tickets or more at a time were given the immediate gratification of an instant prize by pulling a slip from a bowl of goodies. These instant gratification prizes allowed everyone to go home with a small token of appreciation for attending. The incredible amount of prizes available was referenced often by guests as one of their favorite aspects of the event!
Always ready to encourage social media mentions, Young Variety created a DIY photo booth with a step-and-repeat backdrop generously provided by XL Graphics. Guests were encouraged to take selfies with fake mustaches, silly hats, glasses, and other props. Some of these fun moments in time can be seen on Instagram with the hashtag #YVNY as well as on our Facebook Group page, Young Variety New York.
The event was a great success for Variety the Children’s Charity of New York, generating both money and awareness for the organization. Young Variety New York looks forward to many of our wonderful guests becoming long term members and long-time supporters of Variety’s work!