On
Wednesday, December 2, 2009, UNICEF held its annual
Snowflake Ball at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The special
evening was an annual black-tie fundraising gala celebrating the lighting
of the UNICEF Snowflake and honoring those individuals who have made
key contributions to UNICEF’s
mission to save and improve children’s lives worldwide. During
the evening, UNICEF presented the Spirit of Compassion Award to the chairman
of Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid and the
Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award to Ted Chaiban, current UNICEF representative
in Ethiopia.
The Gala was sponsored by Baccarat and raised $1.9 million
for UNICEF. The evening was hosted by Al Roker and featured a special
performance by Island Def Jam Music Group recording artist Chrisette
Michele. Claudia Lebenthal and Christine
Stonbely were the Gala co-chairs
and Barbara Bush and Maggie Betts were the Gala Junior co-chairs. Pamela
Fiori and Charlotte Moss were the Snowflake Project co-chairs.
Guests
Included: Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Téa Leoni and David
Duchovny, Hilary and Bryant Gumbel, Annette and Matt
Lauer, Jenna Bush, Sandra Lee, Wolfgang Puck, David Lauren, Lauren Bush,
Muffie Potter and Sherrell Aston, Somers Farkas, Deborah
Roberts, Pamela Joyner, Dayle Haddon, Karen and Richard
LeFrak, Cynthia and Dan Lufkin, Gillian and Sylvester
Miniter, Alicia Blythewood, Dikembe Mutombo, Maya and Marcus
Samuelsson, Caryl Stern and Vern Yip.
