OPENING DAY
On December 10th, 2007, the Penny Harvest Field at Rockefeller Center officially opened to the public with a rousing ceremony. New York’s First Lady Silda Wall was on hand with Common Cents Executive Director Teddy Gross and co-founder Nora Gross to help reveal the glittering $1 million in pennies. Penny Harvest students and their teachers surrounded the field, many in sheer awe of seeing their collective philanthropic accomplishment in the middle of Rockefeller Center for the first time. The opening drew wide media attention, including Brian Williams describing the Penny Harvest Field as, “a life-altering experience and the reason to visit Rockefeller Center this holiday” on NBC Nightly News.

OPENING NIGHT BENEFIT CELEBRATION
On the evening of December 10th, 2007, Common Cents and our close friends celebrated the generosity and community spirit of our city’s Penny Harvest children and the Penny Harvest Field with our inaugural benefit. More than 300 people filled the Pegasus Suite at the Rainbow Room, 64 floors above the Penny Harvest Field at Rockefeller Center. WNBC’s Perri Peltz emceed the event, and helped Common Cents to honor the Penny Harvest program’s earliest friends, including Susan V. Berresford, Gardner P. Dunnan, Evelyn Gruss Lipper, M.D., Stanley S. Litow, Hildy J. Simmons, Joe Conason, Tiffany Goodin, Lydia Basset-Tyner and Angela Cooper. Special thanks to our Opening Night Benefit Committee for planning a wonderfully successful event that benefited the children and schools of NYC’s Penny Harvest program.