The Kelly Gang is a celebration of friendship and gratitude. We began as a Christmas holiday lunch in 2000, when Keith Kelly of the New York Post and Ed Kelly of American Express Publishing invited a few other Kellys, including Tom Kelly, the novelist and TV writer, Mike Kelly, the publisher of Entertainment Weekly, and Jim Kelly, the managing editor of Time Magazine, to join them for a meal at The Four Seasons restaurant. 

They still get together in December for a holiday lunch, and others have joined in: Ray Kelly, the long-serving New York City police commissioner, Kate Kelly Smith, a senior vice-president of Hearst Corp., Mary Pat Kelly, a novelist and filmmaker, Kevin Kelly, a partner at Lutz and Carr, and Kirk Kelly, a musician. Spying the group at lunch one day at Langan's Pub, Steve Dunleavy, a columnist for the New York Post,  dubbed the group "The Kelly Gang," and the name stuck.

Michael Kelly, the longtime editor of Atlantic Monthly, was an early member, and when he died in 2003 covering the U.S. invasion of Iraq the Kelly Gang honored his memory by holding a benefit to help pay for the education of Michael's two young sons, Tom and Jack.  And so began the Kelly Gang's charitable work, which is largely funded by a dinner at the restaurant Michael's on or around St. Patrick's Day's

OUR 2020 CHARITY

Every year, the members of the board select a group that is lending a helping hand to those in need. Sometimes, the organization is dealing with a sudden emergency, like Catholic Relief Services in Haiti or the Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund. Other times, the group is long-established but whose work is more important than ever, such as the Bowery Mission, which serves the hungry and homeless in New York.

We have no administrative staff and so we have no overhead. We have received invaluable support from Rubenstein Public Relations Inc., from Michael McCarty and Steve Millington at Michael's Restaurant, and from the volunteers who make up our Board. This allows us to give more to the people who need it the most. 

Over fifteen years, the Kelly Gang has raised more than $1MILLION for more than a dozen charities, including the family of late editor and columnist Michael Kelly, The Kelly Cares Foundation, Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund, City Harvest, Cristo Rey New York High School, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, Tuesday's Children, Doe Fund, The Hunter’s Hope Foundation, The Wounded Warrior Project, New Orleans Catholic Charities Crescent House, Operation Helping Hands, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the Annie Moore Memorial Project, Alzheimers's Disease and Related Disorders, New York City, Inc. Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club, Concern WorldWide and Wholesome Wave.