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One Night, $60 Million, For Robin Hood Foundation

Donor’s kicked-in $60 million for the Robin Hood Foundation at its annual benefit Tuesday night, some $35 million of which will go to the foundation’s newly-created Robin Hood American Dream Fund.

The $60 million was raised from 4,000 donors to help combat poverty. The $35 million will support nonprofit organizations helping immigrants and their families gain the skills and resources they need to escape poverty. It was less than the $80.7 million raised by 4,200 donors during last year’s benefit,

Benefit co-chair David Tepper, his charitable foundation, and Appaloosa Management, L.P., contributed $5 million to the Fund, along with a matching grant of $5 million to assist organizations helping immigrants in Tepper’s home state, New Jersey.

The fund was launched at the benefit with a $10 million challenge grant which included a $5 million donation from The Pershing Square Foundation and $5 million from an anonymous donor and others.

“Currently, more than 1.8 million of our neighbors live in poverty, and nearly half of those individuals are people who came here from all over the world in search of a better life,” said David Saltzman, executive director of Robin Hood Foundation. “These people lend their skills, talents, vitality and diversity to New York — making it unlike any other city on the planet — and thanks to our generous donors, we will continue to do all we can to help them achieve their American Dream.”

Funds raised by the annual events hit $1.45 billion since the foundation was launched in 1988.

Tuesday night’s gala was hosted by NBC News’ Brian Williams and was headlined by pop star Bruno Mars. There were also musical performances by Sting and FUN, as well as special guest appearances by comedians John Oliver and Jim Gaffigan.

The Robin Hood Foundation has made headlines in the past year few years for raising money for needy New Yorkers. The organization was the driving force behind the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in 2012, which raised nearly $50 million for families affected by Super Storm Sandy in the tri-state area. The Foundation made more than 200 grants totaling $126 million to organizations throughout New York City, and an additional $56 million in grants to groups in New York, New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester.