Robin Hood raises $88 million in one night

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The Robin Hood Foundation, which fights poverty in New York City, raised $88 million at its annual gala last week, according to Bloomberg News.

Why is this of Jewish interest?

Aside from being Wall Street’s highest grossing annual charitable event, and aside from being run by a nice Jewish guy, the following paragraph from Bloomberg’s story on Monday gives at least part of the answer to folks who question where Jews give away their money when they are not funding Birthright Israel.

The foundation raises money for 200 of New York’s poverty- fighting organizations. Its board — which includes Jones, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, S.A.C. Capital Advisors LP’s Steven A. Cohen, film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Gwyneth Paltrow — covers the gala’s cost so that all proceeds go to the beneficiaries. 

And George Soros, the most generous Jew on earth who is still somehow vilified by Jews who don’t see eye-to-eye with him politically, gave a huge matching grant to help the foundation reach $88 million.

According to the Foundation Center:

Donations to the organization were matched on a 1:1 basis through a special grant from billionaire financier George Soros and the Robin Hood board and will be used to support two hundred nonprofits in the metro New York area working to fight poverty.

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