About the Event

TOAST! to the Children is hosted by Tom Colicchio of Bravo Network's Top Chef and Head Chef/Owner of Crafted Hospitality.  Children of Bellevue's amazing annual gala brings together 12+ chefs from around NYC producing a one-of-a-kind tasting event. All funds support critical programs that support children and families throughout the year.

The Children of Bellevue Board of Directors is pleased to honor Sonia Manzano.

When you think of Sonia Manzano, you immediately think of children and television.   Manzano’s most recent accomplishment was creating a children’s program, Alma’s Way, for PBS KIDs. It has won two Imagen Awards for Best Youth Programing, a 2022 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Program and a 2023 NAACP nomination for an Image Award.

But what Ms. Manzano is best known for is for being “Maria” on Sesame Street for 44 seasons, where her work affected the lives of millions of children and parents and garnered her two Emmy Award nominations, in addition to the National Academy of Arts and Science’s Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy in 2016.  As a writer for Sesame Street, she took home 15 Emmys. In 2022 Manzano received the Beacon Award from PBS, and the Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus Foundation.

She is also the author of four picture books and three Young Adult novels. Her Scholastic Young adult novels include Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx and The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Her most recent novel, Coming Up Cuban, is set in1959, and follows the lives of four children who represent different intersections of race and class during the Cuban Revolution. Proud to have been raised in the South Bronx, she attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York City before attending Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Please visit her website at soniamanzano.com.

Join us for great food and even better company as we honor Ms Manzano, with dishes from the best chefs in NYC!