RELATED: Photos of Partnership With Children Gala Kick-Off

Ballrooms don’t get filled through magic, but the Partnership with Children was willing to give cupid a try. The Partnership gathered its dinner chairmen and friends on Valentine’s Day to rev up enthusiasm for the centennial ball scheduled for April 16 at the Pierre Hotel.

The hosts of the party were Liz and Jeffrey Peek. Mr. Peek is the chairman and chief executive of CIT Group Inc. and is to receive the Ann Vanderbilt Award for Achievement at the April gala. Mrs. Peek, a columnist for The New York Sun, is a board member of Partnership with Children, a chairwoman of the gala, and the chairwoman of the Partnership’s Centennial Fund Campaign.

As for cupid, perhaps his best work had already been accomplished: bringing his hosts together — with Partnership with Children. He had a historical precedent. One of the founders of the Partnership, Blanche Ittleson, was married to the founder of CIT, Henry Ittleson. In Mr. and Mrs. Peek, history repeats itself.

But the organization the Peeks are involved with differs radically from the one the Ittlesons knew. The Partnership began by helping wayward girls and women. Today, it deploys trained social workers to public schools to help children from low-income families who are at risk of academic failure. The program, called Open Heart-Open Mind, has an excellent record of helping children improve their grades, school attendance, and well-being. It also helps parents. It has been such a success that the partnership has created a Center for Capacity Building to train educators, social workers, and school staff to carry out similar work.

The Centennial Fund Campaign, of which Mrs. Peek is the chairwoman, will raise money to expand the reach of the Open Heart-Open Mind program to 10,000 children from 8,000 and to increase the number of schools training at its center to 100 from 50. The campaign will also create an endowment.

One hundred years ago, just a few women were involved in the organization. In its centennial year, it counts powerful women and men as supporters. Dinner chairmen include Donald and Catherine Marron, Charlotte Moss and Barry Friedberg, Fleur and Leonard Harlan, Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, and Candace and Frederick Beinecke. The corporate chairmen include Kenny Dichter and Henry Schachar of Marquis Jet and David Heleniak, a vice chairman of Morgan Stanley.

Yet the Peeks didn’t shy away from having some old-fashioned fun. They dressed in turn-of-the-century attire and passed out top hats to the gents and strings of pearls and fans to the ladies. Champagne, piano music, and the views from their terrace also helped boost spirits.

agordon@nysun.com