Asphalt green to host 2024 annual gala at the american museum of natural history
Media Contact: Karen Borsari, [email protected]
(New York, N.Y.) – New York City not-for-profit Asphalt Green will host its annual gala on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, under the iconic Blue Whale at The American Museum of Natural History to celebrate the power of public and private partnerships in the organization’s ongoing effort to build community and transform lives through sports, fitness, and play for all.
The event comes amidst the recent announcement of Asphalt Green’s Wave Makers initiative, an innovative partnership between Asphalt Green, The Gray Foundation, and the offices of New York City Council Member Julie Menin and Council Member Shekar Krishnan, to address the structural inequities affecting access to swim instruction by providing free and comprehensive swimming lessons to second graders across New York City regardless of socio-economic background.
Such partnerships are a key pillar of Asphalt Green’s new strategic plan, which aims to expand equitable access to transformative sports, fitness, and play programs to an unprecedented number of athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The gala will celebrate this new vision and the power of partnerships in addressing the cost barriers preventing too many people from experiencing the life-changing mental, physical, and social health benefits of athletics.
Special guest and honoree Tim Hinchey III, President and CEO of USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation, will be awarded the first-ever Zesiger Award, created in gratitude to Al and Barrie Zesiger, the founding donors of Asphalt Green’s AquaCenter, which has since provided life-saving swim instruction and produced elite athletes who’ve competed on the world’s biggest stages. The award honors the Zesigers and Hinchey’s legacies as advocates for expanding equitable access to the highest quality sports programs.
Other notable attendees include leaders from across the world of sports. The gala will welcome Rowdy Gaines, retired Olympic swimmer and swimming commentator at NBC, and Mehdi Ballouchy, retired professional soccer player and current coach of NYCFC, to be joined by other former Major League Soccer stars. Anthony Ervin, Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer, will also attend, along with former World Champion swimmer Tom Luchsinger and representatives from the National Basketball Association.
All funds raised from the event will help grow Asphalt Green’s free and low-cost programs that empower people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to live active and healthier lives, including Wave Makers, Waterproofing, the Recess Enhancement Program, Community Sports Leagues, free older adult fitness memberships, scholarships, and so much more.