 |
“Thanks for Giving” Ball raises more than $500,000
for The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary
 New York, NY (October 2008) -- On October 23, nearly 400 friends and supporters joined for a festive evening of dinner and music at The Puck Building for The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary’s 2008 “Thanks for Giving Ball.”
The "Soho loft setting" of the Puck Building in
Soho, New York
The event celebrated 188 years of community service, and raised more than $500,000 to benefit Patient Care Services, which are expanding rapidly to serve the growing number of adults and children who come from around the world seeking the Infirmary’s medical services.
Chairman of the Board, Peter Frelinghuysen; Ball Chairs Charles Berry, Sheldon Gordon and Judy Zesiger; the Infirmary’s distinguished Board of Directors; supporters and friends honored former NYEEI Trustee Belinda Pierce and her husband Gerald Pierce, M.D., with The Margaret Loeb Kempner Humanitarian Award, accepted posthumously on behalf of their mother and stepfather by Pliny Jewell IV and Lucinda Jewell.
The evening also honored eminent genetic researcher, Edwin Stone M.D., Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director, Carver Genetic Laboratory, University of Iowa, with the John Kearney Rodgers Physician of the Year Award. In his remarks, D. McWilliams Kessler, NYEEI President, highlighted Dr. Stone’s international reputation of genius and breakthrough research in identifying more than 70 gene mutations that cause eye disease as inspiring hope that we will soon live in a world where all can enjoy the gift of sight.
Entertainment by Jorge Navarro’s Pasión Flamenco Dance Company was complemented with Spanish-themed tapas and dinner by Danny Meyers’ Hudson Yards. WCBS-TV’s Dr. Max Gomez was Master of Ceremonies. The Silent Auction was provided courtesy of Judith Ripka. The Grand Raffle Prize gold and silver link necklace, donated by Judith Ripka, was won by Seiko Newman, wife of Dr. Robert Newman, former Chief Executive Officer of Continuum Health Partners, Inc. The post-party featured NYEEI Trustee Edward Nowak and Dr. Jay Wisnicki at “Dueling Pianos.”
|
Printer-Friendly Page
Large Print Version
