Feed

Benefits

By Melissa Wiley 6/09/12 2:42pm

Benefits

debbie-glasses

Fashion for a Cause: amfAR’s Third Annual Inspiration Gala Raises Over $1 Million for AIDS Research

Thursday night on the steps of the New York Public Library, a sea of familiar faces flooded the red carpet for the third annual Inspiration Gala–a celebration of men’s style to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).  Chaired by Kenneth Cole and Dr. Mathilde Krim, with Marc Jacobs presiding as honorary chair, the evening featured a live auction, runway shows and a performance by Scissor Sisters that raised over $1 million dollars. Read More

By Amanda Cormier 5/23/12 12:23pm

Benefits

Event co-chair Diana Feldman flanked by honorees Nate Berkus and Geoffrey Bradfield. (Shaun Mader/PatrickMcMullan.com)

Everyone in Festive Attire, Whatever That Is, for the American Cancer Society’s Birthday Bash

“I’m going to only take a few minutes of your time. So shut up!” 

Last night, at the St. Regis rooftop ballroom, Dame Barbara Taylor Bradford took the role of emcee to new levels of Britishness when the post-dinner chatter became too much. Such brusqueness may have raised a few eyebrows at other galas, but she is a Dame, and after all, this was to fight cancer. The room duly obeyed.

The cause was, for the most part, the focus of the American Cancer Society’s inaugural Birthday Bash (in past years, called the “Celebration of Life,” the name change heralding the Society’s 100th birthday next year). The end of the spring gala season seemed to have left some guests a bit tired and chatty, with the auction drawing few bidders. But later requests for straight-up donations to the Society’s Hope Lodge—no VIP Giants tickets included—was heeded by many. And the dance floor was full to the brim when the band played “Staying Alive,” which we presume was in homage to Robin Gibb. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/23/12 11:24am

Benefits

Eric Trump, Michelle Javian, Yuki Kotani, Clay Aiken at Harboring Hearts Spring Gala

Caring Isn’t Creepy: Sonja Morgan, Clay Aiken and Eric Trump at the Harboring Hearts Spring Gala

“You know, I don’t even think she did charity work before the show,” Real Housewives of New York star Sonja Morgan whispered to The New York Observer last night during Harboring Hearts first annual Spring Gala. Ms. Morgan was complaining about one of her fellow co-stars. “I asked her ex-husband, and he was like, ‘She never did charity work.’”

Ms. Morgan wanted us to know that she, on the other hand, was fully devoted to her causes, including New Yorkers for Children,  the ASPCA, and a new project with her daughters involving her former house-turned-French American museum, the Blérancourt.

And, after all, weren’t we all gathered at the Rubin Museum of Art (with its amazing exhibit of Tibetan comic books in the basement) that evening to toast two young women–Michelle Javian and Yuki Kotani–for their charity? Harboring Hearts places heart patients and their families in “home-like environments” while they are in New York receiving treatment. The charity also provides a network of support and a community of resources for those suffering from the physically and financially draining experience of heart transplant surgery. Read More