New
Yorkers For Children (NYFC) celebrated its Tenth Annual Fall Gala, hosted
by CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper, on Tuesday, September 22 at Cipriani 42
to MAKE IT HAPPEN for youth in foster care in New York City. This year’s
event honored Mary J. Blige, philanthropist and founder of FFAWN, with
the Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award. The evening also included
an electrifying surprise performance by Ne-Yo. The Fall Gala is NYFC’s
major annual fundraising event and raised over $1.5 million to assist
young people in foster care in New York City.
Nina and Mitch Davidson,
Oscar de la Renta, Susan and Tony Gilroy, Nancy and Andrew Jarecki, Kevin
Liles, Shirin von Wulffen and Frédéric Fekkai, and Stephanie
and David Wolkoff served as the 2009 Fall Gala co-chairs.
Babi and Sachin
Ahluwalia, Nicole and Leo Arnaboldi, Allison and Jay Aston, Debbie Bancroft,
Donya and Scott Bommer, Marisa and Matt Brown, Joy Bryant and David Pope,
Susan L. Burden, Alina Cho, Michael and Elizabeth Chu, Vanessa and Henry
Cornell, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Selita Ebanks, Jonathan and Amanda Eilian,
Nicole Esposito, Lydia Fenet, Gail Grimmett, Rory Hermelee, Dayssi and
Paul Kanavos, Marina Killery and David Orentreich, Susan Korb and Joe
McInerny, Stephanie LaCava and Bryan Weiss, Pia and David Ledy, Julie
and William Macklowe, Nina Matis, Ashley and Jeff McDermott, Lauren Shortt
Pinto, Scott and Candice Posner, Shafi and Alex Roepers, Jessica Seinfeld,
Susan Shin, Kelly and Jay Sugarman, Lauran and Justin Tuck, Vanessa Weiner
von Bismarck, and Jann Wenner and Matt Nye served as Vice Chairs.
This
year’s sponsors included The Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation,
Delta Air Lines, who served as the official airline of the event, and
Macy’s, who dressed the 19 youth in attendance. Additionally, MAC
Cosmetics and Frédéric Fekkai provided makeup and hairstyling.
Other sponsors helping to Make It Happen included ANKASA by Sachin and
Babi, Ann Taylor, BET Networks, Bloomberg, BNY Mellon, Bvlgari, Chocheng,
CNN, Cole Haan, Credit Suisse, Diane von Furstenberg Studio, Gucci, HealthCorps,
Judith Leiber, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, La Perla, MTV Networks, N!CE
Partners, Oscar de la Renta, Post-it, Tommy Hilfiger Group, Tory Burch,
and Wenner Media.
Linda Gibbs, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services.
Shantel Schloss, NYFC award recipient.
The 2009 New Yorkers For Children Spirit Award recipient
is Shantel Schloss, a junior at Morgan State University in Baltimore,
who was among the 19 young people in foster care in attendance. Shantel
plans to use her $10,000 award toward her college tuition and LSAT classes.
Oscar-nominated director Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, Michael Clayton) premiered
his first short film featuring the inspiring stories of eight youth in
foster care. The poignant film detailed their past struggles, future
aspirations, and how their lives have been changed by NYFC programs.
Sotheby's vice chairman Jamie Niven hosted a live auction offering gala
attendees the opportunity to support youth in foster care as they strive
to achieve their educational goals. The highly successful auction raised
nearly $300,000.
Event decor by David Stark.
David Stark Design & Production created event décor
for the third consecutive year, designing an environment inspired by
the theme MAKE IT HAPPEN and celebrating NYFC’s commitment to helping
young people succeed. Stark used Post-it notes to empower guests through
decor elements such as a “giving tree” filled with personal
messages from NYFC program participants and place cards inviting attendees
to jot down thoughts on how they MAKE IT HAPPEN. Luxury home design firm
ANKASA New York contributed hand-finished, embroidered cut work table
linens along with customized MAKE IT HAPPEN embroidered napkins.
