For Edie Falco, it’s the look on children’s faces when they see a performance of a show they’ve worked on that’s the reason for her involvement with the 52nd Street Project, an organization that matches inner city kids in New York with professional actors to create original theater.
Falco has been working with the Project for 15 years, performing in and supporting the program. “When I go to see the shows that are written by these kids, and they get to see actors doing their plays — it just does something to them,” the “Nurse Jackie” star said.
This year, the 52nd Street Project will be a beneficiary of Charity Day, established by brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald and its affiliate, BGC Partners, to raise money for the families of the 658 Cantor employees who died during the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. Now, donations collected during the fundraiser help charities across the globe. More than $100 million has been raised since the event’s inception.
Each year, actors help the brokerage company raise money. Falco, who has been involved in Charity Day since its inception, was in New York on the day of the attacks.
“I was standing in downtown Manhattan on the street, just watching the whole thing unfold,” she said. “I really lost my footing on that day; everybody did.”
The Brooklyn-born actress describes a “certain heaviness” on 9/11, but added that the good that’s being done by Charity Day is the overriding feeling. Being able to commemorate the day and to represent the 52nd Street Project, she said, is a “perfect combination.”
