Hundreds of New York’s most powerful and influential women from the worlds of business, media, government, publishing and the arts gathered at the Rainbow Room for the Citymeals-on-Wheels 22^nd annual “Power Lunch for Women.” Emceed by Diana L. Taylor, Managing Director of Wolfensohn & Company, the annual benefit honored Martha Stewart, Founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and Lynda Resnick, FIJI Water/POM Wonderful for their long-standing commitment to Citymeals and the elderly population. The event raised $1.5 million – or enough money to hand deliver 235,000 meals for New York’s frail, homebound aged.

Marcia Stein, Executive Director of Citymeals-on-Wheels said, “Imagine a Thanksgiving where dinner consisted of half an orange, a piece of bread left over from the previous day’s lunch and a cup of tea.  Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the power women here today – in particular our honorees Martha Stewart and Lynda Resnick –17,000 frail homebound elderly New Yorkers will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with festive holiday dinners delivered right to their doors.  The money we raise today will bring not just food but compassionate, friendly visits, an important lifeline to our frail aged neighbors.” 

Among the highlights of the afternoon was the surprise announcement of an “Emergency Challenge Grant” by Joan H. Tisch, and her three children Steven, Laurie and Jonathan in memory Preston Robert Tisch, their beloved husband and father, (respectively) and founding Board member, long-time president, and generous friend of Citymeals-on-Wheels.  Moved by recent reports of fiscal hardship at Citymeals, Laurie Tisch rallied the family to issue the following challenge: starting today, for every dollar donated to Citymeals, they will match the amount, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000.00.  When matched, the donation will fund over 30,000 home delivered meals.   

Ms. Stein noted, “Three years ago, Citymeals lost a great leader and a dear friend when Bob Tisch passed away. His philanthropic legacy lives on through his wonderful and generous family. We are forever grateful to Joan, Steven, Laurie and Jonathan Tisch.”

In attendance at this year’s Power Lunch for Women were Cindy Adams; Christine Baranski; Susan Blumenthal; Mary Higgins Clark; Carmen Dell’Orefice; Michele Oka Doner; Beth Dozoretz; Patricia Duff; Nora Ephron; Dasha Epstein; Joni Evans; Florence Fabricant; Linda Fairstein; Geraldine Ferraro; Stephanie French; Betsy Gotbaum; Susan Zises Green; Gael Greene; Jamee Gregory; Donna Hanover; Joan Helpern; Caroline Hirsch; Jenny Holzer; Erica Jong; Adrienne Landau; Evelyn Lauder; Alexandra Lebenthal; Cynthia Leive; Stephanie March; Julianna Margulies; Bernadette Peters; Ruth Reichl; Denise Rich; Judith Ripka; Deborah Roberts; Samantha Boardman Rosen; Liz Smith; Gloria Steinem; Kathleen Turner; Lillian Vernon; Silda Wall; Patricia Wexler; Paula Zahn and others.

The afternoon also featured a very special performance by vocalist Andrea Marcovicci and her 90 year-old mother, Helen, who sang “Autumn Leaves,” “I’ll be Seeing You,” “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore,” and “Russian Lullaby.”  The performance was accompanied by a touching video featuring Citymeals’ recipients.

For a ticket price of $10,000 male attendees had the privilege of choosing which powerful and famous woman would be their lunch partner.  Among this year’s “10K Men” were Michael Batterberry, Albert Behler, Andrew Borrok, Joseph Cohen, Bill Fischer, Bobby Flay, Peter Glazier, Robert Grimes, Michael Lynne, Michael Norris, Craig Pfeiffer, John Pomerantz, Dennis Riese, Lee Schrager, John Shapiro, Donald Tober and Steven Zavagli.

One hundred percent of the money raised from ticket sales at Power Lunch, and all Citymeals’ events, goes to the preparation and delivery of nutritious meals to homebound elderly in the five boroughs of New York City.

This year’s Power Lunch was hosted by the Cipriani Family and the Rainbow Room.  Official sponsors of Citymeals-on-Wheels included American Airlines; FIJI Water; MasterCard; and Nespresso.  Event sponsors include POM Wonderful; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.; Bloomingdales; Bobbi Brown; Bernardaud; Chadick Ellig; La Prairie; Taittinger; Teleflora Travelers and W.J. Deutsch & Sons/Georges Deboeuf.

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ABOUT CITYMEALS-ON-WHEELS:  Founded in 1981, Citymeals-on-Wheels is a not-for-profit organization and public-private partnership with the New York City Department for the Aging that raises private funds to prepare and deliver weekend, holiday and emergency meals to the homebound elderly throughout the boroughs of New York City.  Last year, Citymeals underwrote the preparation and delivery of 2.2 million meals to 18,000 aged New Yorkers.