D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY’S SCIENCE BENEFIT
Eboni Gates, Lindsey Boylan and LeRoy Kim
lots of four- and five-story tenements still occupied by people who’d raised their families and been there all their lives. We were an assiduous group of campaigners. It was the era of the War in Vietnam and there was a great sense of urgency among the younger adults to get involved in the political process in some way. Carter Burden, despite his blue-blood background, was ambitious to learn and inspired us, partly because he was young like most of us (mid-to-late 20s). He won the election handily and soon became involved in the affairs of the city. 26 QUEST
Lulu and Anthony Wang
Henry Kissinger and Sydney Shuman
Douglas Hirsch, Olivia Flatto, Evan Sohn and Michelle Sohn
In his district, he soon learned a lot about the needs of all of those people whose doors we knocked on. Many in his constituency were older, often retired, often widowed or single, and often alone. And they usually had no one to turn to when they had problems to solve like legal matters, matters of health, or financial needs. In 1971, he opened the Carter Burden Center for the Aging in a storefront in the east 80s. Forty-six years later, there are now four centers in the area, where more than 125,000 meals were served last year to neighbors as well as twice as many delivered
Evan Sohn and Richard Lifton
Amy Falls and Hartley Rogers, William Ford III and Michelle Dipp
to their homes. It is a mecca for neighbors of a certain age who need something to do—a hobby or interest to pursue, a place to share with others, classes to learn. His wife Susan became involved in the organization early on, and it’s been under her support that it has grown into an important community institution. On this night, they honored Jeffrey Weber, who is the chairman of the board of the CBN (my dinner partner Duane Hampton has been on the board since the beginning). Mr. Weber, who is a hedge-fund director, has been giving his
time and attention to the center for the past 20 years. He’s one of those men who you can tell by his words and observations is a total and enthusiastic volunteer, bringing his talents to enrich and enhance the organization. After the presentation of the award and the honoree’s speech, the Center Chorale (another activity of the center) of men and women sang Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Climb Every Mountain,” followed by a standing ovation and a brief fund-raising moment where they raised a little more than $200,000, making
S COT T RU D D
Judy Berkowitz and Titia de Lange