STAMFORD – Actor, Director, Producer and Americares Board Member Tony Goldwyn was honored for his lifetime of philanthropy at the 2026 Americares Airlift Benefit last week at Pier 60 in New York City.
Television Creator, Producer, Author and CEO of Global Media Company Shondaland Shonda Rhimes presented Goldwyn with the distinguished Bob and Leila Macauley Humanitarian Spirit Award on April 17 during a special on-stage moment. The event raised $2 million for Americares health programs for people affected by poverty or disaster around the world.
“If I do leave a legacy as a humanitarian, I hope it is this: that I used my voice, my skills, my resources to make a difference, to make someone’s life better, and in so doing to make the world better,” Goldwyn said in his acceptance speech. “Let’s show we care — let’s act. Not just for the people we love but for the people we have yet to meet and may never know.”
Goldwyn has been involved with Americares for more than 20 years having joined the board in 2018. He has volunteered countless hours hosting fundraising events, packing emergency kits for disaster survivors and traveling with the organization to see its lifesaving work firsthand. He also dedicates much of his personal time to other organizations, including Stand Up To Cancer, Innocence Project, Second Stage and the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
In her introduction for Goldwyn, Rhimes described the impact he has had on people.
“When people watch someone they admire, someone they respect, someone they have invited into their living room every Thursday night for years — when they watch that person not just endorse a cause but embody it, something shifts. The permission structure changes,” Rhimes said. “Tony allows people to see him and think, ‘Maybe I can do more than I thought. Maybe I can go further than I planned. Maybe the moment I’ve been waiting for is actually right now.’ The most powerful thing a humanitarian can do is not just to inspire admiration—it’s to inspire action. Tony Goldwyn does both.”
Goldwyn’s current and former co-stars came out to support him at the event, including benefit Co-Hosts Jean Smart and Bellamy Young. Other notable guests included Cristen Barker, Nigel Barker, Dr. Mauricio Gonzalez, Erica Hill, Ward Horton, Richard LaGravenese, Peter Levine, Marti Noxon, Orfeh, Barry Scheck, Ira Schreck, Tony Spiridakis, Dr. Tim Tiutan and Jason Weinberg.
Americares President and CEO Christine Squires asked the more than 500 supporters in attendance to “meet the moment” as humanitarian needs increase due to ongoing conflict, economic pressures, displacement and more intense natural disasters.
“Now is the time to double down,” Squires said. “We must be better, faster and stronger — not to meet only the demands of today’s world, but also the increasingly complex challenges of tomorrow. History is written in many ways. The history of our actions will be written in the lives of the people we help.”
AmeriCares organizes emergency response teams to deliver urgently needed aid to survivors of disasters. Such aid includes medicines, medical supplies, water or water purification treatments, and other critically needed resources.
