The Fresh Air Fund held its Annual Fall Benefit and Silent Auction, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at Chelsea Piers in New York City. Over 575 supporters and friends enjoyed cocktails, dinner, dancing and a silent auction and raised close to $400,000 to benefit The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit organization.
The Benefit Chairs were Isabelle B. Krusen, Courtney Alexis Langer, and Tamie Peters Thomas & Richard D. Thomas. Vice Chairs were Scott K. Banerjee, Keisha & Troy Dixon, Jason Bordainick, Marjan Mehrkhast, David Cotterman, Dana Pollock, Catherine Dewey and Frank A. Zimbaro. David Mehlman and Amanda K. Starbuck served as Ticket Chairs, and Mara Upson as Auction Chair.
Silent Auction highlights included: tickets to Broadway’s newest hit show, Hadestown; CBS Sports network studio tour; tickets to the March Madness Tip-off Party; dinner for two with a full tasting menu and wine pairing at Luthun, and much more.
The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Each summer, thousands of children visit volunteer host families along the East Coast and Southern Canada or attend The Fund’s six overnight camps in upstate New York. Fresh Air children also participate in year-round leadership and educational programs. For more information, visit www.FreshAir.org.
The American Foundation of Savoy Orders Youth Program Chairman Joseph B. Giminaro, and the Young Friends Steering Committee of Save Venice led by philanthropist and activist Lizzie Asher, hosted a joint cocktail reception in honor of H.R.H. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Prince of Venice. The cocktail reception was held to raise awareness of conservation efforts in Venice following the extreme floods (acque alte) that devastated Venice in November. The invitation-only event took place at 10 Corso Como, 200 Front Street, South Street Seaport, New York City. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia is head of the Council of the Savoy Dynastic Orders.
Notable attendees included: Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Lizzie Asher, Joseph B. and Katherine Giminaro, Carl Morelli, Casey Kohlberg, Anthony Schembri, Christina Senia, Ashlee Harrison, Thomas Zampino, Matteo Bolla, Alexander Hankin, Polina Proshkina, Bernardo Ortiz, Karine Zacharias, Laura Lehmann, Elisa Carollo, Oliver Blodgett, Clayton and Parker Calvert, Hudson Gaines-Ross, Carly Baum, Laron Howard, Shana Davis, Clare Ngai, Mercedes de Guardiola, Michele Rayden, Michael Espiritu, Felipe Victoria, Jay Cheshes, Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave, Joanita Titan, Christopher Liu, Laura Day Webb, Silvia Mella, Wendy McNett, Brie Bobalek, Jasmine Lobe, Kate Mack from Coach, Philip Valles from Moncler.
Save Venice Board Member Lizzie Asher, American Foundation of Savoy Orders Youth Program Chairman Joseph B. Giminaro, together with Carl Morelli and Anthony Schembri discussed the importance of their collaboration in light of the historic November floods in Venice. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia shared what the conservation efforts mean to him and the importance of conserving Venice for the world as part of our shared cultural heritage.
Prior to the event, the American non-profit organization Save Venice jump-started their efforts with the creation of an Immediate Response Fund for artistic and cultural heritage recovery. The Embassy of Italy in Washington DC and Save Venice are partnering to raise funds for the Immediate Response Fund, which will support urgent relief efforts and preventative conservation. Donations can be made at savevenice.org/donate by selecting the Immediate Response Fund, and will be matched by Save Venice, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 through February 2020.
Save Venice is acting quickly and decisively to address works of art and buildings that are in immediate need and in peril, including churches, museums, scuole, and other historic landmarks. The organization’s staff is on the ground, working in close collaboration with conservators and local authorities, taking stock of the damage at our conservation sites as well as other affected cultural sites throughout the lagoon and organizing immediate actions.
Thanks to the Immediate Response Fund, artistic and cultural heritage recovery efforts are now underway at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti at the Ca’ D’Oro, The Church of Santa Maria Assunta on the Island of Torcello, The Church of Santa Maria dei Carmini, The Church of Santa Maria del Giglio, The Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, The Church of San Moisè, The Church of San Polo, The Church of San Sebastiano, The Church of San Stae, Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, and Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista.
Sponsors for the event were: Macchu Pisco, Valdo Prosecco, Galliano, Q Tonic.
For more information about American Foundation of Savoy Order, visit: www.savoyfoundation-usa.org. For more information about Save Venice, please visit: www.savevenice.org
More than 800 supporters of Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) attended the 2019 annual benefit gala to honor outgoing hospital president and CEO Joel Seligman and philanthropist Seema Boesky, emeritus NWH Foundation board member. Mr. Seligman transformed NWH into one of the nation’s highest quality community hospitals over 19 years of extraordinary leadership. For decades, Mrs. Boesky has generously supported NWH, including a recent transformational gift to the hospital.
The gala, held in an elegant tent on the hospital campus, raised more than $2.2 million to support the creation of a Comprehensive Cardiac Center of Excellence at NWH. The gala’s theme was Art as Inspiration, Art as Transformation. It was co-chaired by Brenda and Victor Khabie, MD, Chief of Department of Surgical Services, Co-Chief of Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Co-Director of Orthopedic and Spine Institute, Director of Sports Medicine Section. Click here to learn more.
On a rainy Monday evening in December, over 40 special guests were treated to an intimate evening to raise awareness for the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood “CCFC” hosted by Christy and John J. Mack and their son John C. Mack.
The evening started with touching words from John C. Mack, who explained he became involved after he saw a documentary featuring CCFC and realized what his young daughter ‘was up against’. Executive Director Josh Golin then passionately spoke about the transformative work CCFC does in protecting children from companies who illegally collect data from kids and use it to serve up insidious, hyper-personalized ads in return, targeting their vulnerabilities. “Thanks to CCFC, the most popular kids’ website in the world is about to have a lot less of the creepiest kinds of kid-targeted advertising.”
Distinguished guests including hosts Christy and John J. Mack, John C. Mack, Elizabeth Kabler, Patty Raynes, Nick Rohatyn, Lisa Oz, Debra Peltz, Ellie Libby, Benny Tabatabai, Anya Gillison, Diane Finnerty, Mack Abbot, Lilian Holtzclaw, David Hryck and Melanie Manko were then treated to the star of the evening, Founder Susan Linn’s unique ventriloquist routine, which made a lasting impression with the message that with children “relationships make you happy not what you buy”.
The evening that raised over $80,000 to support CCFC’s efforts. For more information about CCFC please visit: www.commercialfreechildhood.org
On Tuesday, November 26th, Jean Shafiroff hosted a gathering to kick off the holiday season and celebrate the Mission Society’s impact on New York City.
More than 100 guests attended. It was a “party with a purpose” –an opportunity to learn more about the Mission Society’s educational programs. Guests included Mission Society President, Elsie McCabe Thompson, and New York State Assembly Member, Rebecca Seawright, among others.
The holidays are a difficult time for many families that the Mission Society serves. Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. The work of the Mission Society eliminate the barriers children face.
Since 1812, the Mission Society of New York City has worked to end multigenerational poverty by building the lifelong educational capacity of New York’s most vulnerable youth and families. Each year, they provide nearly 5.500 young people and parents with a progressive suite of after school, college prep, and career readiness programs at their flagship building on Malcolm X Boulevard and 12 public school programs in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Chinatown.
Jenna Bascom Photography (Fresh Air Fund); BFA (Savoy Orders & Save Venice); Annie Watt (CCFC)
