On April 28th 2009, Women In Need celebrated its 13th “Commit to WIN” dinner. Some 650 guests gathered at The Pierre Hotel to honor Pamela Fiori, Editor-in-Chief of Town&Country magazine, who received the "Commit to WIN" Award, presented by Fashion Designer, Tory Burch. The evening, which was hosted by newswoman Lynn Sherr, raised over $1M through table and journal sales, and the popular “WIN Balloon Challenge.”
The Balloon Challenge is part of the evening’s program during which guests purchase balloons to benefit WIN’s Children’s Services. This year Karin Sadove, a WIN board member and her husband, Steve, chairman and chief executive of Saks Inc., matched balloon sales up to $25,000. Town&Country purchased the most balloons of the evening, and each person at the table was given a $250 gift card from Saks. This year’s Balloon Challenge raised over $130,000 for WIN’s children’s programming.
The evening also premiered the new WIN video featuring the stories of three women and how their lives were changed through their experience with WIN.
All three women - Irene, Nessa and Rhonda appeared on stage in outfits provided by Ellen Tracy and received an enthusiastic standing ovation.
For the fourth consecutive year, Kayce Freed Jennings presented the Peter Jennings Prize: A Child’s View to children from WIN’s shelters for their writings. The children sported spiffy new outfits provided by Lord & Taylor.
The Dinner Gala was attended by many of New York’s leading designers and also boasted its share of celebrity sightings such as Vera Wang, Isaac Mizrahi, Kelly Rowland, Josie Natori and Gayle King. Check out our photo gallery!
Many thanks to the Event Co-Chairs which included Bill and Marianne McComb, Brendan and Abby Hoffman, Karin and Steve Sadove, Susan and Jack Rudin, Karen Harvey, and Katherine Farley and Jerry Speyer; the Dinner Co-Chairs Kayce Freed Jennings and Jaqui Lividini; the Benefit Committee, the underwriters, our generous Board, and everyone whose support helped make this event so successful!
Media
mentions:
Manhattan
Society
Social Diary
Women's Wear Daily
Patrick McMullan
George Anttila
Society-Photos
WIN Thanks our Gala Volunteers
The 2009 Dinner Gala was a huge success and our volunteers played key roles in so many aspects of the evening.
On behalf of the clients and staff of WIN, we extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our many Gala volunteers, which included individuals and also a fabulous team from Wachovia.
A special thank you goes out to our generous sponsors who helped to make our gift bag so fabulous and sought after!
