Raising critical funds for research

Outside the The Plaza for The Boys’ Club of New York's 60th Annual Fall Dance.

This past Monday, The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) hosted a scientific luncheon and lecture at the Mandarin Oriental to discuss the global treatment for lung cancer and raise critical funds for research.

The lecture was given by Dr. James R. Rigas, Medical Director, Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Program, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

LCRF Board Members: Ashish Sanghrajka, Kimberly Kravis Schulhof, Elizabeth Peabody, Lauri Carson, Bill Carson, Pippa Gerard, and Jim Dougherty

The event was co-chaired by Laurie C. Carson and Kimberly Kravis Schulhof and the Master of Ceremonies was Sapna Parikh, M.D., Medical Reporter, Fox 5 News. Rachel M.A. Linger, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine received the inaugural LCRF Scientific Merit Award. This award acknowledges the scientific investigator whose research proposal was selected for outstanding overall merit by the LCRF Medical Advisory peer review.

A record 240 guests attended the luncheon raising over $275,000 for important lung cancer research. To mark the occasion, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed November in the City of New York as Lung Cancer Awareness month.

Dr. James Rigas presenting the Global Effects of Lung Cancer

Attendees included: LCRF Board Members Laurie and Bill Carson, Kimberly Kravis Schulhof, Elizabeth Peabody, Jim Dougherty, Pippa Gerard, Ashish Sanghrajka. Also, Coco and Arie Kopelman, Elinor Wohl Cohen, Alicia Cordon, Webb Egerton, Karen Glover, Shoshanna Gruss, Bonnie Lautenberg, Nicole Limbocker, Lisa McCarthy, Heather Mnuchin, Shafi Roepers, Michele Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Susan Allen Tisch, KK Streator, Clelia Zacharius, Emilia Saint-Amand, Jane Pontarelli, Eliza Nordeman, Anne Nordeman, Heather Leeds, Kelly Johnston, Carol Jansing, Pearl Harrison, Murial Fabricant, Evie Brown, Wendy Breck, Elizabeth Collett.

Shelly Carr, KK Streator

Scientific Merit Award Recipient Dr. Linger, Co-Chair Kimberly Kravis-Schulhof, Co-Chair Laurie Carson, Lecture Speaker Dr. Rigas, and Master of Ceremonies Dr. Sapna Parikh

Heather Mnuchin, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Jennifer Ruff, and Shawn Warren

Laurie Carson and Lorette Pucylowski

Eliza Nordeman, Ari Kopelman, and Anne Nordeman

Grantees: Dr. Ladanyi, Dr. Linger, and Dr. Brenner

Laurie Carson, Sarah Perl, and Kimberly Kravis Schulhof

Coco Kopelman, Lisa McCarthey, and Clelia Zacharias

Jennifer Litzschultz, Judy Eisenberg, and Kimberly Kravis Schulhof

Bonnie Lautenberg and friends

Emilia Saint-Amand, Nicole Limbocker, and Sydney Shuman

Michelle Wolkoff and Andrea Palin

Gretchen McGarry and Pippa Gerard

Helene Kaplan, Brenda Axelrod, and Susan Mendik

Kelly Mickle, Alicia Cordon, and Rose Ann Weinstein

Elizabeth Collett and Carol Jansing

Tana Dye and Kelly Johnston

Mariel Fabrikant, Pearl Harrison, and Michelle Wolkoff

Alison Bamford, Tana Dye, and Nancy McLouglin

Stephanie Coleman and Shoshanna Gruss

Eight extraordinary animals and people, including a seeing eye cat that served as a dog’s best friend and a cadaver dog that provided assistance in Iraq were honored for their heroic deeds at this year’s ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) Humane Awards Luncheon at the Rainbow Room last Thursday.

The Luncheon, sponsored by The Hartville Group, recognizes animals that have demonstrated extraordinary efforts on behalf of humans as well as individuals who have worked on behalf of animal welfare, or engaged in animal heroism during the past year.

“The Humane Awards Luncheon honors those who have gone above and beyond for animal welfare and animal heroes who have dedicated their lives to help others,” said ASPCA President Ed Sayres. “It’s a wonderful event that celebrates the important role companion animals play in our lives.”


	Ed Sayres

Following a nationwide call to the public for nominations in February, an ASPCA-appointed committee reviewed hundreds of entries and selected winners in eight specific categories.

The 2008 ASPCA Humane Award winners are: (for all animal lovers, these are really great stories)

ASPCA Dog of the Year
You will never see Cole Massie, a 10-year-old boy from Los Angeles, California, without Ilia, his furry sidekick. Cole has cerebral palsy, and Ilia, a five-year-old black Lab/Golden retriever mix, is always by his side. Ilia is also one of thousands of service dogs that support people with special needs. In order to break away from being wheelchair-dependent, Cole underwent surgery in July 2008 so he would be able to walk again without assistance. Ilia travelled over 7,000 miles on six planes to be by Cole's side for surgery. He supported Cole through medical treatments and physical therapy, and he encouraged the boy throughout his road to recovery. These days, Cole is able to use his whole foot, and Ilia is still by his side, walking alongside him.

ASPCA Cat of the Year
Libby, a ten-year-old tabby, was a dog’s best friend. She served as a seeing eye cat to Terry and Deb Burns’ senior yellow Lab/Shar Pei mix, Cashew, who was blind and deaf. Libby helped her canine companion accomplish daily tasks, steered Cashew away from bumping into obstacles and patiently guided the blind dog to her food. The two were inseparable; Libby even slept next to Cashew at night. The only time they were apart was when Terry took the dog for a walk. Unfortunately, Cashew passed away several years ago and to this day, Libby misses her canine companion. Libby was a true friend and hero to Cashew, and their deep-rooted friendship showed that animals of different species can understand and help each other overcome hurdles.

ASPCA Firefighter of the Year
On July 17, 2008, Adam Deem, a firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was working the burned area from the Moon fire in Northern California, one of 158 fires started by lightning. While Deem was monitoring the trail, he noticed a six-month-old bear cub crying for its mother. The cub suffered from serious burns to all four paws, and his fur was singed from the fire. With the mother nowhere to be found, Deem wrapped the frightened and injured bear in his firefighter’s jacket and took him to the Fire Incident Command Center. From there the cub, named Li'l Smokey, was treated for dehydration and sent to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, where he is recuperating from the frightening ordeal.

ASPCA “Tommy Monahan” Kid of the Year
Mimi Ausland, a 12-year-old girl from Bend, Oregon, wanted to do more than just volunteer at her local animal shelter. After four months of careful planning, hard work and support from her parents, Mimi launched Freekibble.com in April 2008. Mimi’s primary mission is to provide food to dogs and cats at the Humane Society of Central Oregon. She made it fun for people to help contribute to her cause by playing a trivia game on her web site. Since April 1, 2008, Mimi has donated more than 29 million pieces of kibble, enough to help feed 240 dogs and 601 cats. Her next mission is to expand her outreach to help feed animals in shelters across the country.

This award is dedicated to Tommy Monahan, a 9-year-old Staten Island boy who perished last year trying to save his dog from a house fire.

ASPCA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year
Diane Balkin is Chief Deputy District Attorney for the City and County of Denver and has worked in the District Attorney’s office since 1979. For nearly 30 years, Ms. Balkin has been an advocate for humans and animals, working tirelessly to send a message that animal abuse will not be tolerated. While she has prosecuted all types of felonies such as sexual assault, homicide and aggravated robbery, her passion is to promote animal welfare by prosecuting those who neglect or abuse animals.

Over the past year, Ms. Balkin successfully prosecuted a South Dakota dog breeder for cruelty to animals and saved 19 of his horribly neglected puppies that were left unattended in a truck. In another cruelty case, she prosecuted a Denver man who killed a Chihuahua with a shovel and then threw the pet's lifeless body in a dumpster. Both defendants were found guilty, and in the Chihuahua case, the defendant was sentenced to six years in prison.


Andrea Henderson Fahnestock

Ms. Balkin, a member of the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine, speaks at conferences nationwide about animal cruelty prosecutions and trains veterinarians, law enforcement officials, students and citizens on the link between cruelty to animals and violence toward humans. She has been instrumental in changing Colorado laws to facilitate the prosecution of animal abusers, and her commitment and steadfast determination to raise awareness about animal cruelty have made an immense impact in Colorado, as well as nationwide.

ASPCA Henry Bergh Award
Dr. Phil Bushby, a board certified veterinary surgeon, is no stranger to the ASPCA. Thirty-six years ago, Dr. Bushby started his career as an intern and surgical resident at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York City. For the last three decades, he has been on the faculty at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine where he currently serves as Service Chief with a focus on spay/neuter programs. He also holds the Marcia P. Lane Endowed Professorship of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare and is a Board Member of MS-SPAN (Mississippi Spay and Neuter), an ASPCA Mission: Orange partner agency in Gulfport-Biloxi.

Dr. Bushby was an integral member of the Veterinary Shelter and Neuter Task Force and Shelter Residency Standards Task Force (organized by the ASPCA and PetSmart Charities). He spearheaded the MSU Disaster Response projects during Hurricane Katrina, and is on the road four days each week, taking students to eight Mississippi shelters to provide them with spay/neuter and shelter medicine experience. He recently traveled to Turkey to speak on spay/neuter issues.

Dr. Bushby’s goal is to expose veterinary students to shelters across Mississippi, educate them about the problem of pet overpopulation, and help them find ways to play a role in the solution. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

ASPCA Presidential Service Award
There’s no mission that’s impossible for Stache, a four-year-old black Lab. Stache and his handler Jim McCans have been involved in nearly two dozen searches, including a trip to Mississippi to find a Hurricane Katrina victim, and solving a missing persons case in Philadelphia. Within the last year, Stache and Jim were asked to provide assistance in Iraq, where they faced their biggest challenge: to search for missing American service men and women. Stache and Jim found nine separate recoveries, but not before a close brush with death when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) exploded in their path in Owesat, Iraq. The blast left Stache with temporary hearing loss, but he has since recovered and returned to the states. Stache hasn’t forgotten the soldiers that befriended him during his stint in Iraq; he recently visited two soldiers who were severely injured from the same blast at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Linda Lambert and Steve Nislick

Lisa McCarthy, Caroline Dean, and Libby Fitzgerald

ASPCA Lifetime Achievement Award
Mamdouha S. Bobst is a humanitarian, a philanthropist and an animal advocate who has dedicated her life to help others in need. She and her late husband, Elmer Holmes Bobst, are important supporters of health research and university centers both in the United States and in Lebanon.

Her generosity is not limited to humans, however. Mrs. Bobst has donated funds to support the Animal Medical Center, where she founded the Mamdouha Bobst hospital in New York City. The veterinary hospital treats more than 30,000 animals annually and offers routine care, emergency services and treatment for pets suffering from unusual or complex diseases. Mrs. Bobst has also been an ASPCA supporter for several years and with her late husband, helped finance the renovation of the ASPCA Adoption Center in Manhattan. In 2006, the renovation was completed, and today the building’s front lobby is named after them. Needless to say, Mrs. Bobst’s contributions have saved countless numbers of animals in need.

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first humane organization established in the Americas, and today has one million supporters. A 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides local and national leadership in animal-assisted therapy, animal behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane education, legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York City headquarters houses a full-service, accredited animal hospital, adoption center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York’s animal cruelty laws and is featured on the reality television series “Animal Precinct” on Animal Planet. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org.

The Hartville Group is one of America's oldest and most established independent pet health insurers. Since our founding in 1997, The Hartville Group has been dedicated to helping pet owners pay for their pets' veterinary care with well-designed pet health insurance plans. The insurance plans range from simple accident coverage to more comprehensive protection including illness and wellness care. The Hartville Group is ASPCA's strategic partner for pet health insurance.

Adam Maher and Jeffrey Pfeifle

Allison Aston and Mark Gilbertson

Chuck and Ellen Scarborough with Jonathan Ward

Brian McCarthy, Sarah Ayres, and Lara Trafelet

Alun Davies and Fernanda Kellogg

Margo MacNabb Nederlander, Marcy Bluhm, and Mia Matheson

Peter and Amanda Espy

Cynthia Lufkin, Marina Killary, and Melanie Holland

Jim McCans and Cole Massie

Somers Farkas and Cynthia Lufkin

Polly Onet, Sandy Bishop, and Susan Slater

Last Monday night (10/27), The Boys’ Club of New York held its 60th Annual Fall Dance. In these difficult times for everyone, the boys served by The Boys’ Club are in even greater need of the kinds of educational, mentoring and recreational programs that the organization has provided of over 130 years. Friends of The Boys’ Club gathered to raise important support at the Fall Dance that will help to sustain the Club’s innovative programs and give inner-city boys an opportunity to strive for a brighter future.

Fall Dance Co-chairs were Caroline Dean, Ellen Niven Deery, Karin Luter, and Jessica Zirinis. The Men’s Committee was chaired by Graziano de Boni, Lawrence Creel, Jeffrey Stevenson, and Basil Zirinis. In attendance: Simone and Christopher Mailman, Jill and Andrew Roosevelt, Travis and Nicholas Acquavella, Libby and Thomas Fitzgerald, Shafi and Alexander Roepers, Merrill and Ashton Curtis, Ulla and Kevin Parker, Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels, Sherri and John Grace, Ritchey and David Howe, Jackie and Eugene Williams, Betsy and Robert Pitts, and Monique Merrill, President of the Women’s Board and many other Boys’ Club supporters.

The Plaza Ballroom

Valentino provided underwriting for the event as well as offered a summer internship as an auction prize. Lydia Fenet of Christie’s raised the gavel on the auction that also included a trip through Abercrombie & Kent’s Residence Club and at the Greenbrier Sporting Club. The final auction item was the opportunity to send a boy to camp at The Boys’ Club’s Camp Cromwell. Darion Stevens, a Boys’ Club member, told about his experiences at camp and what they meant to him. Guests all over the ballroom raised their hands to show their pledge to help boys like Darion have a great summer experience.