Hello!
The Food Allergy Initiative 13th Annual Spring Luncheon was an afternoon of perfection on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at Cipriani 42nd Street with an estimated 550 supporters coming out for event. The fundraiser, a popular much anticipated annual, raised $784,000 to date. Proceeds will benefit the Food Allergy Initiative’s research, education, and advocacy programs aimed at finding a cure and raising awareness of life-threatening food allergies.
WABC-TV Eyewitness News Anchor Lori Stokes Stokes has been involved with Food Allergy Initiative for 10 years, hosting the luncheon for 6 years. Stokes herself a sufferer of tree nut allergies has a daughter that also shares her malady. Stokes (pictured at far left with Blogger Tia Walker) happily informed us that allergy-free foods has been a much improved field over the years, "There's so many new products that are on the market that either gluten-free or tree nut free or if you something with eggs...whatever it is, that's a beautiful thing when you can actually find something that tastes good."
2012 Co-Chairs Abbey Braverman, Roxanne Palin, and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. Melissa Rosenbloom served as the Event Advisory Chair. Jessica Mukasey Barkoff, Elizabeth Hecker, Jamie Lichtenberg, and Lana Platin were the Goodie Bag Co-Chairs. Liana Silverstein Backal, Nicole Lenner, Melissa Meyers, and Jennifer Fisherman Ruff were the Raffle Co-Chairs. This year’s guest speaker was Dr. Hugh Sampson, an internationally known researcher and Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Lori Stokes, Anchor, WABC-TV, was the Mistress of Ceremonies.
Support levels were as follows: Tables were available for $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500, and individual tickets were available for $2,000, $1,000, and $50
*photo courtesy of Lee Fryd