On April 7th, Student Sponsor Partners held the Twelfth Annual Founder’s Dinner at The Pierre Hotel. The event raised over $1.5 million and had over 400 people in attendance. The evening celebrated SSP’s 25 years of giving underserved New York City students the opportunity for a quality, life-changing education and SSP honored Russell L. Carson for his longtime generous support to the organization.

The evening’s program began with remarks from SSP’s Executive Director Margaret Minson, who honored seven SSP students in the class of 2011. These students have excelled and are all going to four year colleges in the fall. Following the remarks, SSP senior Sarah Archer-Days spoke about the positive impact SSP, her Sponsor, and her school had on her through difficult times in her life. SSP Alumnus Andrew Boryga, a sophomore at Cornell, followed Sarah, commenting on how being an SSP student was a turning point in his life—it put him on the path to his dream of being a writer for the New York Times.

Chairman of the Board Jim Healy took the podium after dinner and spoke to the SSP supporters, old and new, about the 25-year history of the organization and how our students need our support now more than ever. He spoke to the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the SSP model and how it has helped nearly 5,000 students graduate from high school—it has changed 5,000 student’s lives.

Jim then the honor of presenting the Founder’s Award to Russell L. Carson, a Co-Founder and General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, and supporter of SSP. Russ and his family, through the Carson Family Charitable Trust, have given back generously to the New York community and especially to underserved youth in New York for years. SSP honored Russ and his family’s generous support of the organization and the over 40 student’s whose lives they have changed.

Photos of Twelfth Annual Founder’s Dinner