There is former New York top cop Ray Kelly and his son, Good Day New York anchor Greg Kelly. There’s New York Post columnist Keith Kelly and former Weather Channel CEO Mike Kelly. All these Irish American Kellys – and many more in media, politics and publishing – gathered last March at Michael’s in Manhattan for their annual Kelly Gang fundraiser. This year, the group ended up raising $100,000, which was donated to the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club, currently celebrating a century of serving New York youth.
The Kelly Gang’s mission is to “help those who need it most.”
The Kelly Gang began in the late 1990s as a group of media personalities with the surname Kelly “who happened to land a few good jobs,” members of the group have often noted. Sadly, one of the original members, journalist Michael Kelly became the first American journalist killed in the Iraq War in 2003. The following St. Patrick’s Day – which would have been Michael Kelly’s 47th birthday – the Kelly Gang raised money for an educational fund established to benefit Michael’s sons, Tom and Jack. All in all, The Kelly Gang has raised more than $600,000 for a wide range of causes from the Bowery Mission and Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund to City Harvest, Catholic Relief Services in Haiti, and the Wounded Warrior Project.
“Everyone in this room is a Kelly tonight,” said Ed Kelly, co-founder and president of the Kelly Gang, when addressing the crowd at the fundraiser. “We could not be happier to bring everyone together tonight to support the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club and all they are doing for the youth of the city.” ♦
Kellys Are a Charitable Gang
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