ADKX Announces the 2025 Harold K. Hochschild Award Recipients Adirondack Foundation and Cali Brooks
Blue Mountain Lake, NY — The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake (ADKX) will be celebrating their annual Benefit Gala & Harold K. Hochschild Award ceremony on Saturday, July 26 from 5 to 9 PM, under the stars at their museum in the heart of the Adirondacks. This yearly celebration and fundraiser highlights the organization’s service to the Adirondack community, as well as honors the Harold K. Hochschild Award recipient. This award, given annually to a different recipient, is dedicated to the memory of the museum’s founder, whose passion for the Adirondacks, its people, and environment inspired him to create the museum and establish the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The 2025 award recipients are the Adirondack Foundation and CEO & President Cali Brooks.
Adirondack Foundation is composed of a group of compassionate problem-solvers working to enhance the lives of people in the Adirondacks through philanthropy. They work to connect generous donors with the causes they care about in the places they love. They are grantmakers – the largest private grantmaker in the region – and community connectors. As the only community foundation serving the entire Adirondack region, they proudly steward a family of funds pooled and invested together for maximum impact. Investing these funds collectively has allowed them to grant out millions of dollars alongside many generous supporters since they were founded in 1997.
From the beginning, CEO & President Cali Brooks has been the driving force behind the tremendous positive change the Foundation has generated in the Adirondack region. During her tenure the Foundation’s endowment has grown from $2M to $100M – supporting hundreds of regional nonprofits with over $80 million in grants and scholarships. The incredible philanthropic pipeline that Brooks has helped to create has become the lifeline for so many in the Adirondacks. Over the last quarter century Brooks has evolved into a major player in the Adirondack Park, gradually reshaping the Adirondack Foundation and its ability to impact not only small projects but larger projects as well.
“Cali Brooks has an unparalleled passion for the Adirondack Park and the wellbeing of all its citizens. I know Harold Hochschild would have been thrilled to see the impact the Foundation is having on the Adirondacks and its people. That is what he cared so deeply about,” says ADKX Honorary Trustee Frances Beinecke.
Some of their most impactful community initiatives include the Adirondack Birth to Three Alliance focused on providing kids with the best possible start so they can become healthy, thriving members of the community; and the Special and Urgent Needs Fund which provides responsive granting resources that can be deployed to assist Adirondack communities and nonprofits during times of crisis. The fund has helped communities, business, and individuals throughout the Adirondacks including over $2M in COVID-19 response and recovery funds.
“The ADKX would like to thank Cali Brooks and the Adirondack Foundation for their remarkable dedication towards making the Adirondack region a better place to live,” said Executive Director David Kahn. “We look forward to celebrating them at this year’s Gala.”
To purchase tickets to this event or make a contribution in honor of the Adirondack Foundation and Cali Brooks visit the ADKX website HERE.
About Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake
Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake (ADKX), accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, shares the history and culture of the Adirondack region through interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, and culturally rich collections in more than 24 historic and contemporary buildings on a 121-acre campus in the heart of the Adirondacks. The ADKX offers a broad range of programs and activities including special and permanent exhibitions, the 19,000-square-foot Life in the Adirondacks interactive exhibition and new Artists & Inspiration in the Wild, nature trail hikes, and boating on Minnow Pond. ADKX offers daily activities with artists-in-residence, workshops, lectures, nature walks, family and educational programs, and signature events like the Rustic Fair, FallFest, and the Adirondack Art Festival. The museum is supported in part with donations from the general public, with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. For additional information, call 518-352-7311 or visit www.theADKX.org.
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