2009 Gala Donation Levels

$25,000	Please call (212) 219-2527, Ext. 102
$12,500	Please call (212) 219-2527, Ext. 102
Benefactor $7,500 (table of 10)
Patron $1,000
Faithful Friend $500
Faculty $200
Donation (Not Attending)

For more information, e-mail or call (212) 219-2527, ext. 102

This Year’s Gala
Marking its 25th year and recent move to a an inspiring new home at 22 East 30th Street, the New York Open Center community will gather for its annual Gala on November 16th in the spectacular Grand Room of the Desmond Tutu Center, a  beautifully restored facility with Gothic architecture in a charming, park-like setting in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Each year the Open Center holds its Gala to celebrate the year’s milestones and honor individuals for their achievements and contributions in the holistic field. And this year we will make a special award presentation to best-selling author, lecturer and social and spiritual activist Marianne Williamson (see bio below) — who joins a group of distinguished honorees over the years (click button at the bottom of this page for full list).

We hope you will join us for this special event on November 16th. For information, e-mail us or call (212) 219-2527, ext. 102.

Honoring the Open Center at 25
In 25 years, the Open Center has become the nation’s largest urban center for holistic learning and world culture, giving annually over 500 programs, workshops, lectures and professional trainings in spirituality and world religions, health and wellness, psychology and inner development, society, ecology, and creativity. More than 250,000 participants have passed through its doors seeking paths for well-being, enlightened thought and deeper awareness. Why? Because the Open Center’s mission and achievement is to serve as a forum for many of the world’s leading visionaries who are exploring those more integrated ways of looking at the world and finding personal and social methods to live more fully.

The Open Center’s 25th anniversary coincides with the move from its original space in Soho into a beautiful, expansive and inspiring new home at 22 East 30th Street, between Fifth and Madison avenues. The new Open Center, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vibrant streets of its Madison Square Park North neighborhood, will enable its teachers and programs to reach further. As a community gathering space for the thousands of participants, new and old, the Open Center is poised to become an even more vibrant and essential cultural institution in service to New Yorkers and the world.

2009 Special Award Recipient
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson, social and spiritual activist, author, and lecturer, is one of the most recognizable names in contemporary American culture. She founded Project Angel Food, a Meals-on-Wheels program for homebound people with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles, and The Peace Alliance, a grass roots campaign to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. Marianne has inspired millions through her writings and appearances on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Larry King Live” and “Charlie Rose.” Her latest book, The Age of Miracles, was a New York Times bestseller. Among her nine other published books, four of them, including A Return to Love, were No. 1 on the list.

She is the source of the quote, often attributed to Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural speech, “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Those words have become an anthem for many seekers over the years. In 2006, a Newsweek magazine poll named her one of the 50 most influential people of her generation.