Gift for Life gala raises $240,000
Staff -- Home Accents Today, 7/1/2006
Gift for Life raised more than $240,000 for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, during its 14th Anniversary Gala in May.
Gift for Life, the gift, home decor and stationery industries' leading charitable organization, hosted the dinner in New York City.
Festivities included a presentation of awards to industry icons Mary Engelbreit and Ron Jedlinski, silent and live auctions, dinner and dancing.
Hosting the evening and assisting with the evening's auction was Carson Kressley of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
In related news, the annual gala is moving to coincide with the New York International Gift Fair in January 2007. The 15th anniversary Gift For Lift Gala will be held Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, in New York City. Details will be announced in coming weeks.
"We sincerely appreciate the continuing support Gift for Life receives from the industry," said Mary Liz Curtin, Gift for Life chairperson. "In the last four years we have raised more than $1 million for amfAR through the generous help of partners and gala attendees. We look forward to seeing everyone in January 2007."
Included in the 2006 Anniversary Gala was the formal presentation of a $50,000 donation made last October to the Montrose Clinic in Houston.
Katy Caldwell, executive director of Legacy Community Health Services (formerly the Montrose Clinic), was on hand to receive the contribution. Through this assistance, the Montrose Clinic was able to send staff to the various relief sites set up in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to give direct assistance to HIV-infected patients left displaced or homeless by the storms.
AIDS activist Nancy Soto also addressed the crowd, providing poignant testimony about the support that Gift for Life provides to amfAR.
AIDS activist Nancy Soto, left; Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy; Peter Schauben, Gift for Life founder; Mary Liz Curtin, Gift for Life chairwoman; Katy Caldwell, executive director of Legacy Community Health Services (formerly, the Montrose Clinic).
