Soca superstar Kes will bring the sound of Carnival to one of the world\u2019s most celebrated museums on Nov. 12 when NYC Health + Hospitals\/Gotham Health holds its 2026 Masquerade Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n
The Trinidad and Tobago artist, whose band is known as KestheBand, will give an exclusive live performance as the centerpiece of the evening, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds will support early childhood development programs for children and families across all five boroughs.<\/p>\n
Kes, whose full name is Kees Dieffenthaller, was named Male Soca Artist of the Year at the Caribbean Music Awards. His band blends soca, calypso, reggae, R&B and pop. Hits including \u201cHello,\u201d \u201cWotless,\u201d and \u201cSavannah Grass\u201d are staples of Carnival celebrations and dance floors worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Kes takes the stage at the Met, all of New York is going to feel it,\u201d said Michelle Lewis, CEO of Gotham Health. \u201cThis is a night people will be talking about for years, and it is for a cause that will matter for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Titled \u201cEvery Child Thrives,\u201d the gala will bring together leaders in health care, philanthropy, business, government and culture. Every ticket, table, and sponsorship will benefit Gotham Health\u2019s Childhood Development Initiative.<\/p>\n
The initiative aims to expand access to developmental screening, early diagnosis, specialty pediatric care, integrated family support services, and stronger referral pathways for children across the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery child deserves the opportunity to thrive,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThe support raised on Nov. 12 will help us identify developmental needs earlier, connect families to care sooner and strengthen the services children need during the most important years of their development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers said the choice of Kes\u2019 hit \u201cHello\u201d is fitting. Gotham Health says the gala is a way of saying hello to new possibilities for families of children with developmental delays and disabilities, by making specialized care easier to reach.<\/p>\n
As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Gotham Health serves New Yorkers regardless of their ability to pay. Officials said funds raised will help ensure a family\u2019s ZIP code or income never determines a child\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Money raised at the gala will help expand pediatric developmental and behavioral health services, strengthen early screening and diagnostic pathways, recruit and train specialized pediatric clinicians, advance clinical tools, technology and diagnostic capacity, and provide integrated family navigation and wraparound support services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Soca superstar Kes will bring the sound of Carnival to one of the world\u2019s most celebrated museums on Nov. 12 when NYC Health + Hospitals\/Gotham Health holds its 2026 Masquerade Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Trinidad and Tobago artist, whose band is known as KestheBand, will give an exclusive live performance as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}