The Garden of Dreams Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit charity that was introduced in the Fall, 2006 and continues to fulfill its mission of "making dreams come true for kids in crisis" in its second year. The Foundation was established in 1998 and formerly operated under the name of "Cheering for Children". After 6 years and millions of dollars in resources directed at helping NYC's after-school programs and the building of playgrounds in our area, the focus of Garden of Dreams expanded to help make dreams come true for kids in crisis. This includes children facing enormous obstacles, including illness, abuse, foster situations, homelessness, hunger, extreme poverty.

Garden of Dreams works closely with all areas of Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall including the Rangers, Knicks, Liberty, MSG Media, MSG Entertainment and fuse to build meaningful, unforgettable programs for children affiliated with local children's hospitals, "wish" organizations and community based organizations, including Kravis Children's Hospital at Mt. Sinai, NYU Medical Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, Starlight-Starbright Foundation, Make-a-Wish Foundations of New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and the Hudson Valley, Ronald McDonald House, Loisaida, Inc., Life Center, Children's Aid Society, Harlem Dowling, SCO Family of Services, and Children's Village.

Since Garden of Dreams debuted in Fall, 2006, more than 54,000 children and families have been touched through special experiences at MSG, Radio City Music Hall, MSG Training Center and The Beacon, through tickets to games and shows, or through one-on-one interaction with players and staff at various community organizations served by the charity. As part of this, more than 48,000 tickets have been donated to organizations served by Garden of Dreams. Additionally, Garden of Dreams has hosted more than 88 separate special events for more than 3,500 children and families, including dream nights, parties and all-access, behind-the-scenes tours, for children and families at MSG, Radio City Music Hall, MSG Training Center, The Beacon and fuse.

Garden of Dreams pillar events include:

Dream Suite Nights
MSGE, the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty and fuse host children for dozens of evenings over a year, with exclusive behind-the-scenes access, including player and celebrity meet and greets and a game/concert in a catered suite.

Dream Day at the MSG Training Center
The Knicks and Liberty hosted children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the second year who were treated to a full afternoon at the MSG Training Center, including personal behind the scenes tours by players, special games, prizes.

Rangers Skating Party
The Rangers hosted children from SCO Family of Services at the Training Center this fall and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Hudson Valley in February, which gave children the opportunity to skate with several Rangers players and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Knicks Week of Giving
Continuing on the success of last season, the Knicks collected school supplies from fans and distributed collected items to kids in the community, as well as welcome them to Madison Square Garden for a game and fun-filled party in January.

VIP day at fuse
fuse began hosting children over the summer with exclusive studio tours; VIP access to in-studio concerts and meet and greets with fuse hosts. Additional access to the fuse studios and its guests are upcoming, including a "VJ for the Day" program.

MSG Entertainment Talent Show
Each spring, children from various Garden of Dreams partner organizations, all of them battling life-threatening diseases, homelessness, foster care or poverty, practice for months to take part in an unforgettable experience. In front of their families and friends, they take the Great Stage of Radio City Music Hall, and perform with talent, emotion and passion, forgetting their problems and celebrating their unique voices.

MSG Classroom
Debuting this year, MSG Media hosted 12 children on an on-going basis teaching them about the inner workings of a television network. The children received hands-on instruction from MSG staff. The program is scheduled to welcome another new group of students in the spring.

Wish Fulfillment
Garden of Dreams partners with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to fulfill Garden related wishes on an unprecedented scale, by incorporating all areas of Madison Square Garden into a single wish. Most recently, Garden of Dreams fulfilled the wish of a Rockland County teenager who wanted to watch a Rangers game with Mark Messier, with a multiple day experience that included interaction with the entire current Rangers team, a meet and greet followed by attendance at a Knicks game, a tour of Radio City Music Hall, watching the Rangers game day skate, two suites for the young man's entire family, of course significant time spent with Mark Messier and a post game locker room visit. Additional wish fulfiliments are in development on an on-going basis.

Drives
-Rangers coat drive: this season more than 800 coats were collected from Rangers fans in-arena and distributed to Garden of Dreams partners by Rangers players and alumni.
- Knicks school supply and toy drive: This season over 1,000 school supplies were collected through in-arena efforts as well as an "Autograph for School Supplies" session. The supplies were donated to children from Children's Aid Society.
- Liberty school supply and toy drive: Over the summer, Liberty fans donated almost 1,700 school supplies and 300 toys to children in the tri-state area. The team will build on this success during the 2007-08 season.
- MSG Entertainment toy drive: Coinciding with the opening of the Christmas Spectacular, for the second year a toy drive was held in early November to collect toys for children in area children's hospitals. Over 500 toys were donated that were distributed by Radio City Rockettes to children in New York hospitals.

Adopt-a-Family employee program
Working in partnership with Children's Aid Society, for the second straight holiday season, MSG employees adopted 53 families in need throughout New York City. More than 300 MSG employees donated various items for families in need to make their holiday season special. One family living in a very difficult situation was visited by Knicks alumni John Starks, Rangers alumni Rod Gilbert, Liberty alumnae Kym Hampton, fuse host Jared Cotter, the Radio City Rockettes, the Knicks City Dancers and MSG's Jimmy Cavallo, representing the Foundation to deliver furniture, clothes and toys for the family.

Room Refurbishments: Building on the success of the Knicks room refurbishment project at Children's Village last spring in which a room in disrepair at Children's Village was converted into a vibrant, new meeting place for the school's children to enjoy and gather, three additional room updates are planned at NYU Rusk Institute, Children's Aid Society and SCO Family of Services.

For more information on the Garden of Dreams Foundation,
call 212-465-4170 or email us at gardenofdreamsfoundation@thegarden.com.

A copy of the Foundation's annual report may be obtained,
upon request, from the Garden of Dreams Foundation, 2 Penn Plaza, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10121 or from the office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.