Jill Scott Headlines National CARES Mentoring Movement's Annual For the Love of Our Children Gala Hosted by Tamron Hall

The Evening Celebrated the 80th Birthday of CARES Founder and CEO Susan L. Taylor as a Leader in Business, the Arts, Philanthropy, and Advocacy United to Support Young People Living in Poverty

NEW YORK, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National CARES Mentoring Movement hosted its annual For the Love of Our Children fundraising gala on Monday, March 2nd at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. Emceed by Emmy Award-winning journalist Tamron Hall, the evening brought together nearly 600 leaders from the worlds of business, philanthropy, the arts, and advocacy to reaffirm their commitment to the life-saving work that CARES does on behalf of the nation's most impoverished, isolated, and vulnerable children.

National CARES provides holistic, trauma-healing programming in communities to advance children living in poverty. It is the singular organization in the U.S. implementing this work on a national scale. The annual gala showcased CARES' work by fusing together music, dance, and storytelling with real-world facts about the crises our young face, and how adults can end them.

Grammy Award–winning artist, Ledisi opened the night with a soul-deep performance of her song, 'BLKWMN;' and poet, singer, songwriter and winner of multiple Grammy Awards, Jill Scott, provided a deeply moving close to the night, first serenading Susan L. Taylor with her own arrangement of Happy Birthday, complete with a just-written poem. She brought the house to tears, and then their feet, as she delivered her generation-defining song, "A Long Walk," followed by a stunning new piece, "Beautiful People," from her recently-released album, To Whom it May Concern, her first full-length project in over a decade. 

One of the most meaningful moments of the night came when a CARES mentee, 24-year-old Marshai Bradley, was introduced to the audience. Bradley had participated in the organization's signature program, The Rising, during a high school experience marked by housing and food insecurity and profound personal hardship. Reflecting on that time, she shared, "The Rising saved my life and the lives of my friends." Guests learned that Bradley has since earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, and in January of this year, achieved another milestone, signing the lease for her very own home.

"The gala was a beautiful moment of love, legacy, and responsibility. In celebrating 80 extraordinary years of Susan L. Taylor's life and 20 years of National CARES work, we reaffirmed this truth: every child deserves to be seen, protected, nurtured, and fiercely loved," said Renee Daniel Flagler, president of the National CARES Mentoring Movement.

Taking the stage before introducing Jill Scott, Susan L. Taylor, who is Editor-in-Chief Emerita of Essence magazine, offered passionately that, "In the wealthiest nation in the world, there is no moral justification for hungry children." Taylor declared, "We choose love as action and community as strategy!"

For the Love of Our Children Gala was supported by Premier Sponsor, Casey Family Programs, Presenting Sponsors, FedEx and The Coca-Cola Company; Silver Sponsors, American Nurses Enterprise, Camelback Ventures, Georgia-Pacific, Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Sephora and TW Capital Group; and Bronze Sponsors, AARP, Amplified Voices TV, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Citi and Jatali Bellanton.

Photo Selects: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JJss0_MZQO-k8w6sOvOI_WmGkHxXA5d0?usp=sharing

Credit: LeVern Danley 

About National CARES Mentoring Movement

The National CARES Mentoring Movement is a not-for-profit organization, first launched in 2006 as Essence CARES by then-chief editor Susan L. Taylor. Its mission was to undergird and change the otherwise predictable futures of the nation's most harmed children living in poverty and social isolation. Since its inception, National CARES has recruited, trained, and placed more than 250,000 mentors into its trauma-healing programs across its 58-city affiliate network, and into the programs of its partners as well. Those mentors, led by CARES-trained psychologists and wellness professionals, have supported more than 350,000 young people who have gone on to succeed in school, their careers, and their lives. For more information about the National CARES Mentoring Movement, please visit https://www.cares-mentoring.org/.

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SOURCE National CARES Mentoring Movement