Bay Ridge Cares caps off Cancer Awareness Month with second annual post-parade party

September 30, 2014 Jaime DeJesus

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

Share this:

In the month of September, Bay Ridge Cares launched its wildly successful Bay Ridge Go Gold campaign, painting the neighborhood gold in the name of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The culmination of these efforts was the non-profit organization’s Second Annual Post Parade Party.

The fundraiser, which was held after the 48^th Annual Ragamuffin Parade at Saint Patrick’s Auditorium, Fourth Avenue and 96^th Street, on Saturday, September 27 was well attended and featured music, face painting, food, raffles and an appearance by Elsa from “Frozen”. The Dark Knight himself also made an appearance. The space was filled with balloons shaped like golden ribbons to commemorate the event.

“Our second annual post-parade party was a smashing success,” said co-founder of Bay Ridge Cares, Justin Brannan. “We had about 400 people in attendance and the room was aglow with positive vibes. You could have powered a small country with the energy in that room on Saturday.”

The action began once the annual Ragamuffin Parade concluded, with parents and their children dressed in their favorite costumes making their way to the after party at 2 p.m. A portion of money raised went to the World Go Gold fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Brannan was thrilled by how the community stepped up for the children.

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it a thousand times: Bay Ridge comes together like no place on Earth. All we did was harness the terrific energy of so many compassionate and caring people,” he said.

Thanks to the help of volunteers, who proudly sported their Bay Ridge Cares t-shirts, the event ran as seamlessly as did the entire month.

“When we first discussed launching the Bay Ridge Go Gold campaign, we were dreaming of seeing our neighborhood draped in gold to raise awareness for pediatric cancer research but we weren’t sure if it would catch on,” added Brannan. “I think we can safely say it caught on like wildfire and the result was beyond all of our expectations and imaginations.”