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VIDEOCritter's Choice Award Speech
The collective effort has been both amazing and humbling.
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Good evening and welcome to the first annual Critter’s Choice Awards.
My name is Todd Harrison and I’m the Founder & CEO of Minyanville and the President of The Ruby Peck Foundation for Children’s Education.
Before we get started, I would like to thank those responsible for making tonight possible. In particular, our sponsors for their most generous donations.
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BTIG Bass
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JL Berkowitz Capital
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John and Terri Succo
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MacroMavens LLC
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Midtown Partners
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Mueller Capital LLC
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And Mark and Michele Kellner
While funding is the lifeline of any philanthropic effort, this wouldn’t be possible without the tireless work of the Ruby Peck Foundation Board and those who have donated their time and energy in turning this dream into reality.
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Carole Harrison
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Len Spivak
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Kevin Wassong
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Lionel Ohayon
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Allan Millstein
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MJ Pedone
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The entire staff of Minyanville Publishing & Multimedia
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And my grandmother Dorothy—Ruby’s wife of 59 years—for joining us at this event. (Somebody get that woman a margarita!).
While tonight’s event has been a collective effort by countless people and the very best in human capital, it would not have been possible without the drive and dedication of one person.
Please join me in taking a moment to recognize Vanessa Ohayon, the Executive Director of the RP foundation, in pulling this event together. It would not have been possible without her.
Ruby Peck was my grandfather and the bond we shared is difficult to describe. He was my guiding light, my inspiration, my role model and my best friend.
He taught me how to be a man and what a man should be.
When he passed in April of 2001, I started the Ruby Peck Foundation so others, like myself, could aspire to inspire.
He was very proud of the fact that despite leaving school in the eighth grade to help his family through the Depression, he attained great success in the publishing industry with an old school work ethic and steadfast tenacity.
We used to take walks and hold hands as he passed his pearls of wisdom to me.
“What goes around, comes around.”
“Time is the most precious commodity”
“Think Positive.”
And, above all else, “All we have is our name and our word.”
He didn’t know it at the time but his guidance saved my life as I, along with countless others, struggled to make sense of a post-9/11
The Ruby Peck Foundation for Children’s Education has become more than a charity. It is a common thread weaved around the world by people who believe that a child’s opportunity to learn and develop the gift of his or her imagination should not be limited by economic classifications, social status, physical challenges or geographical boundaries.
The collective effort has been both amazing and humbling.
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On the heels of Hurricane Katrina, the Minyanville community, on behalf of the RP Foundation, raised funds that helped rebuild sixteen school libraries on the
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A Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by Warren Buffet, George Soros, Peter Lynch, Mario Gabelli and other financial luminaries, was donated to the foundation which, in turn, auctioned it on eBay for close to $60,000.
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The RP Foundation has helped a broad base of children’s initiatives, including.
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The Stony Brook University Foundation, through the Ruby Peck Memorial Scholorship.
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Little Kid’s Rock to supply musical instruments to inner-city children.
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Free Arts NY to deliver the healing of the arts to neglected, abused and at-risk children.
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The National Education Association
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Jacob’s Cure
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The
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Reading Rainbow
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The list goes on.
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All of these efforts were accomplished without gathering our fantastic community. It has long been our vision to host the Critter’s Choice Awards and present the “Ruby” for outstanding achievement in creative education.
Tonight is that night.
Many of you know Trent Tucker through his professional accomplishments on the hardwood.
A 6’5” shooting guard from Tarboro, North Carolina, Trent led the Minnesota Gophers to a Big Ten Conference Championship in 1982.
Later that year, he was selected with the 6th overall pick in the NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He played nine seasons in New York, one year with the Spurs and then joined the Chicago Bulls, where he helped them win the 1993 NBA championship.
He retired after that season, having tallied over 6,000 points and 1,500 assists. Trent also holds the Chicago Bulls record for most “threes” in a game and ranks fifth all-time in NBA three-point field goal percentage.
But that's not why we honor the man...
Trent has been very active in the Minnesota community for over 20 years, focusing his efforts on empowering children to make positive choices, increase self-respect and helping them develop a vision for the future.
Trent started the first celebrity golf tournament in Minneapolis in 1998, an annual event that has raised over $1,000,000 for local charities.
But Trent didn’t stop there. In 2001, he started The Trent Tucker Youth Program for sixth to eighth graders to enable them to not only craft a vision for a post-secondary education, but to realize those dreams as well.
Currently, Trent is building on this success by developing a high school program that will serve as an extension of his middle school efforts.
I’ve had the good fortune of knowing Trent for a few years and will offer that he is Ruby-esque, not only in what he does but, more importantly, how he does it.
It gives me great pleasure--and is my distinct honor--to present the first annual “Ruby” to Trent Tucker for outstanding achievement in creative education.
Todd Harrison is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Minyanville. Prior to his current role, Mr. Harrison was President and head trader at a $400 million dollar New York-based hedge fund. Todd welcomes your comments and/or feedback at todd@minyanville.com.
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