The John A. Reisenbach Foundation is the premier charitable organization of New York's media and advertising communities. The Foundation was established in 1991, one year after the random and senseless murder of John Reisenbach in Greenwich Village. John, then 33 years old, was vice president of national advertising sales for what was then All American Television. To date, The John A. Reisenbach Foundation has given more than $6 million to programs that improve safety and the quality of life in New York City, in honor of John's memory.
Among the Reisenbach Foundation's most visible events and means of fundraising is the annual presentation of the Reisenbach Award for "Distinguished Citizenship," given to media or advertising professionals who share our interest in the quality of life. Past recipients include Bill Cella, Irwin Gotlieb, Ray Kelly, Bill Koenigsberg, Bob Liodice, Judy McGrath, Katherine Oliver, Dennis Swanson, Dick Wolf, and, the first, Gerald Levin.
HISTORY
The John A. Reisenbach Foundation was established in July 1991, one year after John?s death, by a group of friends and colleagues who wanted to honor his life with some positive actions. The first Gala was hosted by Phil Donahue with special guest Jim Brady, who had been involved in the attempted shooting of President Reagan and was already becoming a proponent for hand gun control.
With these origins, our sense of where to focus efforts immediately went toward safety related programs, and our very first allocation was to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with the creation of Reisenbach Masters Scholarships for students who pledged to focus their careers in New York City after graduation. We worked with John Jay on a variety of safety and anti-crime related initiatives, including sponsorship of a multi-part TV series on crime, policing and criminal justice.Our interest in making contributions where we could really see the impact, drew the Foundation?s Board of Directors to seek out neighborhood and community organizations to support and help expand. One of our earliest programs was the donation of thousands of dollars to a long list of individual neighborhood watch groups, providing everything from flashlights to gas for patrolling cars.
Over the years, we have worked closely with the New York City Police Foundation, the Police Athletic League, New York Cares, Safe Horizons and the Citizens Committee for NYC among others. Warner Bros. DC Comic's dedicated a special edition of Batman to the Reisenbach Foundation called Seduction of the Gun that had strong anti-gun violence themes. In addition, DC Comic artist Alex Ross generously donated his proceeds of original artwork to the Reisenbach Foundation.To date, we have raised funds to create our own programs, support the development of others and match funds from other organizations. Adhering to our charter, we have sought to be creative in our choices while focusing on tangible results that can really make a difference.
The John A. Reisenbach Foundation?s 20 years carried this as its original charter:
The John A. Reisenbach Foundation has looked to achieve these prime objectives:
