Robin Hood Audacious As Ever, Raises More Than $72 Million, With Text Pledges and Tweets All Night

The stories of tonight's Robin Hood Foundation gala at the Javits Center:

Tom Brokaw introduced six people’s stories showing how Robin Hood helps New Yorkers:

• A sick child gets emergency care from the Children’s Health Fund

• a 4th grader at Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant already knows he wants to go to college, and is in a class where everyone is at or above grade level in math;

• a 5-year-old eats at a soup kitchen and has a safe home with Robin Hood’s help;

• a mother learns "play therapy" at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Center for Babies, Toddlers and Families, so she can take better care of her kids;

• a father secures temporary housing for his family after losing his job;

• a mother works through depression and homelessness to become an electrician with Time Warner Cable.

Read and watch more at www.robinhoodresponds.com

The money:

The live auction was scrapped this year (brilliant move); instead: more than $72 million was raised through pledges by glowstick and IML WiFi device — with assists from Anne Hathaway, Eli Manning, Brian Williams. That's slightly higher than 2007 levels, and a turnaround from the disappointing $56 million of 2008. Major boost from George Soros, who announced a $50 million challenge grant to match donations dollar for dollar; the board also announced its own $50 million challenge. Jon Stewart, you’re a hero for leading the pledge-with-new-fangled-device brigade, and Jamie Niven, you earned the night off.

The corporate generosity:

Scholastic donated 1 million books for families and children
Johnny Walker and parent company Diageo donate all the liquor for the event

The music:

Aretha Franklin sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Mayor Bloomberg tried out a ditty too; Black Eyed Peas were on by 10 p.m.

The meal:

3,000 entrees served by 370 waiters, with costs of the meal covered by the board

Compiled from the Robin Hood Foundation’s Twitter feed @RobinHoodNYC and the foundaton's Web sites.