The Quest for "it"

Hartley House 2013 Spring Benefit

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Nicole Cicogna, Former NYC Mayor David N. Dinkins, Hartley duPont

Hartley House, the distinguished centuries old humantatian organization, threw it's annual--the 2013 Spring Benefit at the Museum of the City of New York on Monday, May 20^th.  The Hartley House Award for Philanthropic excellence was presented to The Honorable David N. Dinkins, 106^th Mayor, City of New York in recognition of his lifelong commitment to strengthening the New York City community through dedicated public service and faithful advocacy for the underserved.  Hartley House also honored the Home Outreach Program for Elders (HOPE), a comprehensive case management program serving the Westside of Manhattan. This program not only helps to prevent eviction and early institutionalization but also recognizes that our elderly neighbors are vital members of the community and works to improve the quality of their lives.

El Museo's 2013 Gala

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Fe Fendi and Yaz Hernandez  

El Museo del Barrio held its annual Gala on Thursday, May 16, at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City. The Gala honored Actor Raúl Esparza with the Excellence in the Arts Award, Ramiro Ortiz Mayorga with the Trustee Leadership Award, and Ricardo Villela Marino, CEO, Latin America Banco Itaú Unibanco with the Corporate Excellence in the Arts Award. The Gala Chairs were Valentino D. Carlotti, Fe Fendi, Valentin Hernández, and Marie Unanue. The Gala raised more than one million dollars for the museum.

The Results of the Women's Project Theater--Women of Achievement Awards Gala

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On Monday, May 13th, Women's Project Theater held its 35th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Gala at the panoramoic Three Sixty in Tribeca.  The evening honored  Joanna Coles, Helen Gurley Brown (Posthumously), Donna Kalajian Lagai, Sheila Nevins, and Charlotte  St. Martin. These women are now amongst a long list of other acccomplished and distinguihsed women from previous years.*** Awards presenters for the evening included Andre Bishop, Ninan Lannan, Donald J. Loftus, and Actress/Comedienne Rosie O'Donnell.

Results of the 59th Annual Spirit of Achievement Awards Luncheon

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General Scene pre-luncheon

On Tuesday, April 30, at New York City's Plaza Hotel, the National Women's Division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine hosted the 59th Annual Spirit of Achievement Awards Luncheon to benefit lifesaving medical research. This year's luncheon honored several outstanding women. This Women's Division flagship event was created to honor outstanding individuals leading their field in the arts, media, business, and government.

Scenes from the 14th Annual FARE Luncheon

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Actress Tracy Pollan

The 14th Annual Spring Luncheon, presented by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)*** took place one week ago today at Cipriani 42nd Street. More than 650 supporters attended the event, which raised more than $1 million – a record for the event. All proceeds will benefit FARE, a national nonprofit organization with the mission of ensuring the safety and inclusion of individuals with food allergies while relentlessly seeking a cure.

We Are Family Foundation Honors STING & TRUDIE STYLER With Humanitarian Award

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Trudie Styler and STING

The We Are Family Foundation^® (WAFF), a not-for-profit organization founded by legendary songwriter and producer, Nile Rodgers, honored Sting and Trudie Styler with the Humanitarian Award at its inaugural We Are Family HONORS event on Thursday, April 11, 2013, at Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom in New York City. The evening included a concert featuring performances by Sting, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Sam Moore and Russell Peters, as well as remarks by We Are Family Foundation Founder & Chairman Nile Rodgers, We Are Family Foundation President Nancy Hunt, Africa Rising Foundation Co-Founder & Co-Chairman Ndaba Mandela, filmmaker Slater Jewell-Kemker and U.S. Fund for UNICEF President & CEO Caryl Stern.

Cocktails at Save Venice 2013--Black & White Masquerade

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Carly Cushnie & Michelle Ochs

It was a truly beautiful evening on Friday, April 5 at New York City's The Pierre.  Supporters of Save Venice came out by the hundreds to celebrate Un Ballo in Maschera and promote the organization's mission of preserving the cultural and artistic heritage of Venice.  Save Venice 2013, The Black and White Ball began with a grand red carpet in an initial room and a cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in an adjoining ballroom.  Fashionistas abound in delicate rhinestone masks*** and gentleman callers followed in masculine enigmatic creations.

The Results of Jeffrey Fashion Cares 10th Anniversary

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Actress Emmy Rossum

It was a perfectly crisp evening on Tuesday, April 2nd when several hundred well-coifed men, and a few well-coiffed women headed to the U.S.S. Intrepid at Pier 86, in New York City, for the 10th Anniversary of Jeffrey Fashion Cares.  The evening complete with celebrities, socialites and VIPs was hosted by Actress Emmy Rossum of Showtime’s “Shameless” and featured an appearance by Singer and LGBT Activist Cyndi Lauper, who presented the Jeffrey Fashion Cares’ Community Leadership Award to Broadway legend Choreographer, Jerry Mitchell.

Jeffrey Kalinsky, President & CEO of Jeffrey New York/Atlanta & EVP Design & Merchandising, Nordstrom once again brought a diverse crowd out in support of his now ten year old Fashion Cares.*** 2013's noteworthy attendees included: Sean Avery, Scott Lipps,  Miss USA 2013 Olivia Culpo, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Ireland Baldwin, Aaron Walton (Walton Isaacson), Cory Isaacson (Walton Isaacson), Allen Cohen (Hetrick Martin Institute), et al

2014 Lexus IS 350 F SPORT
 

 The evening was made possible by the support of geneorus sponsors ranging from Ketel One Vodka to luxury car brand Lexus.   Lexus consistently known for its LGBT outreach and support prominently displayed a blazing new 2014 Lexus IS 350 F SPORT,  just past the grand red carpet.

During cocktails, amidst all of the VIP red carpet arrivals, delicious passed hors d'oeuvres, and silent auction bidding, we spoke with Community Leadership Award recipient Jerry Mitchell who shared thoughts on his impending award.  "I feel like I'm really accepting it for all the dancers who are part of my show 'Broadway Bears'. Hundreds of dancers every year, come together and put on a burlesque show, and we raise a million dollars for Broadway Cares. It's sort of an amazing event. I started it 23 years ago, I was one of the strippers. I don't do that anymore. I was actually a go-go dancer.  I did it to raise money for Broadway Cares."

Model on Runway

The runway show kicked off at a little past 9:00 pm featuring a brief live auction featuring big ticket items ranging from an all-inclusive package to the Aspen Food & Wine Festival to a 1982 Richard Corman print of Madonna; the presentation of Mr. Mitchell's award by Cyndi Lauper;  followed by a bevy of male models sporting a number of daywear ensembles from various designers including Lacoste, Roger Vivier, Staff USA to name a few.

Attendees departed the event as late as 10:30 pm with Jeffrey's signature stuffed gift bags.

***Fashion Cares was established in 1992 in Atlanta, GA by Jeffrey Kalinsky,

fashion pioneer and community leader. He launched the first-ever Jeffery

Fashion Cares event to heighten awareness of the plight of people living with

HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBTQ community. When Jeffrey brought his fashion show and reception benefit to New York in 2003, he brought with it a legacy of community involvement and philanthropy. In just 10 years, the event has raised over $4 million for LGBT and LGBT youth charities here in New York City. 

*photos courtesy of Derrick Salters for The Quest for "it"

 

LOS ANGELES: Magic Johnson Kicks off HIV Awareness Campaign

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Earvin “Magic” Johnson, CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, discussed the OraQuick® In-Home HIV test and the importance of knowing your HIV status with Anchor Frank Buckley on the set of the KTLA Morning News Show today. 

OraSure Technologies, Inc, maker of the OraQuick® In-Home HIV Test, announced today the launch of a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage everyone to learn their HIV status. The campaign, “Make Knowing Your Thing Today” asks people across the country to share their story about their decision to test for HIV.
 
Magic Johnson has teamed with OraSure to kick off the campaign, sharing his story of knowing, and encouraging others to do the same.
 
*** The OraQuick® In-Home HIV Test is the first ever in-home rapid infectious disease test made available directly to consumers. Launched in October 2012, the test detects antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 with an oral swab, providing a confidential in-home testing option with results in as little as 20 minutes. It is available in most national drugstore and mass merchandiser retail outlets nationwide and online at OraQuick.com

Love Heals 2013 Gala Raises $400,000 To Support AIDS Education

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Thursday evening, March 7^th, Love Heals, the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education raised $400,000 at their gala event at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan. All proceeds from the evening directly support Love Heals’ efforts to protect the next generation of New Yorkers from HIV. The evening included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres followed by a seated dinner and program at which Dana Auslander, Richard Farley and Mary Alice Stephenson were honored. It was emceed by InStyle’s Hal Rubenstein.

Attendees included co-founders, Dini von Mueffling, Stefani Greenfield and Victoria Leacock Hoffman, actors Kelly Rutherford and Matthew Settle, actor & dj Eric West, Top Model Keenyah Hill, Real Housewife of New York Sonja Morgan, WABC news anchor Sade Baderinwa, CNN’s Felicia Taylor, Bloomberg’s Matt Miller, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Hannah Bronfman, Alexandra Lebenthal, Coralie Charriol Paul, Lucy Sykes & Euan Rellie, Amy Sacco, Ann Caruso, Avis Richards, Federico Pratesi of the luxury linen brand Pratesi, jewelry designers Landon Slane and Alexis Bittar, , clothing designer Susan Beischel of skin, interior designer Darren Henault, Michael Lorber, Vanessa von Bismark and Jean Shafiroff, among others.

Deepak Chopra (via video) and famed photographer reality show star Nigel Barker presented Stephenson’s award. In a heartfelt speech, Stephenson was moved to tears when talking about the powerful accomplishments of Love Heals over the past 21 years.  Senator Chuck Schumer presented Farley’s award via video, and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg presented Auslander with her award. Following, award winning singer and actor Cheyenne Jackson enchanted guests with his moving rendition of “What A Wonderful World” and “Auld Lang Syne” as a single song.