Award-winning news anchor Ernie Anastos is a longtime friend and supporter of St Francis Food Pantries. He’s not only the emcee of our annual Women of Valor Awards Tea and Doodle for Hunger events, his compassion and energy level in everything he does is downright infectious! March 21st was Ernie Anastos Day at the Museum of the City of New York with the Amber Charter School.
More than 175 students from the Amber Charter School in East Harlem joined New York's legendary and Emmy award-winning news anchor in the museum auditorium for the festivities, including special guests and TV coverage.
Fighting illiteracy is imperative for St Francis – it’s one of the root causes of hunger, after all – and these events help promote reading and literacy in a fun, collaborative way. Each student received a free copy of "Ernie and the Big Newz – The Adventures of a TV Reporter" (as featured on NBC's Today Show and donated to the kids by St Francis). The colorful book was written by Ernie for young children to help promote positive news, career development and the excitement of covering news in New York City.
Ernie spoke and interacted with the young students in the audience about living a positive lifestyle, encouraging wellness and finding an opportunity to make the world a better place. One of the highlights of the event was when Ernie asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. The answers? Everything from a veterinarian to a dancer to a basketball player...one ambitious student even wanted to be an engineer!
Special entertainment was provided by 15-year old New Jersey piano prodigy Matthew Whitaker, who has toured Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and has appeared on national television, including the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
