|
Hope for Depression Research Foundation
Holds Summer Weekend of Events
To Raise Mental Health Awareness
Southampton Village Plays Host to HOPE
Summer Seminar, Luncheon, Shop-For-Hope & Race of Hope 5K
Over the Weekend
Hope
for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF)
hosted a series of events in Southampton to raise mental
health awareness and kick off its eighth annual
Race of Hope 5K to Defeat Depression,
which took place Sunday.
Friday’s first event, the
Hope Summer Seminar, featured a discussion on “How to Talk
to Friends and Family About Mental Health” from 11 am to 12
pm at the Southampton Arts Center. HDRF Founder & Chair
Audrey Gruss moderated the discussion with acclaimed
psychiatrist Samantha Boardman and psychologist Aliza
Pressman. Dr.
Boardman is
the author of the
blog “Positive
Prescription” and the book Everyday
Vitality: Turning Stress into Strength. Dr.
Pressman is the Co-founder of the Mount Sinai Parenting
Center, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of
Pediatrics, Division of Behavioral and Developmental Health,
Kravis Children's Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine.
Over 70
people attended the enlightening discussion with important
takeaways about how to broach the subject of mental health
with loved ones and how to identify the signs of depression.
The
seminar was followed by a private luncheon at Tutto Il
Giorno for the committee members of the Race of Hope. Over
50 committee members attended including Elyce Arons, Melissa
Breitbart, Janna Bullock, Arthur Dunnam and Roy Cohen, Alan
and Barbara Glatt, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Bob Mancuso, Mai
Hallingby Harrison, Geralyn Lucas, Elizabeth Meigher, Anne
Nordeman, Othon and Kathy Prounis, Stacey Pashcow, Scott
Snyder and Sarah Wetenhall.
Luncheon
guests were seated at linen draped tables in the
restaurant’s lush garden, where they were served an array of
appetizers family style that included: Sardinian flatbread,
an Italian charcuterie assortment, spicy tuna tartare,
burrata, and an arugula salad with bell peppers, artichokes,
and ricotta. entrees included a choice of chicken Milanese,
seared salmon, spaghetti with scarpariello sauce, and a
grilled mozzarella and sun-dried tomato flatbread.
Following the Seminar, the
Veronica Beard store hosted a “Shop for Hope” event, where
guests enjoyed champagne and pastries as
they browsed Veronica Beard’s latest collection, with ten
percent of sales going to HDRF’s research mission. All
sales made from Thursday, July 27 through Sunday, August 6
at Veronica Beard in Southampton counted toward the donation
to HDRF. Guests also picked up gift bags that featured SIO
Beauty products.
All events kicked off a
weekend that culminated in the eighth annual Race of Hope 5K
to Defeat Depression on Sunday, August 6. The Race was
attended by more than 500 men, women, and children. HDRF
Founder Audrey Gruss, and Board member Arthur Dunnam, both
Hamptons residents, were Grand Marshals of the event. The
Race also spotlighted two Teen Grand Marshals for the first
time: Grier
Henchy, the
17-year-old daughter of Brooke Shields; and Hayden
Lucas, a high
school senior and leader of the newly-formed HDRF Teen Task
Force. The Race raised over $325,000 for research into new
and improved treatments for depression and anxiety.
ABOUT HOPE
FOR DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION (HDRF)
HDRF was founded in 2006 by philanthropist
Audrey Gruss in memory of her mother Hope, who struggled
with clinical depression. The mission of the HDRF is to spur
the most innovative brain research into the origins, medical
diagnosis, new treatments, and prevention of depression and
its related mood disorders – bipolar disorder, postpartum
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety
disorder, and suicide. The World Health Organization has
declared depression as the leading cause of disability
worldwide, and yet conventional medications today are
outdated and do not fully work for 50% of patients. HDRF is
working tirelessly to improve the mental health landscape
for every American. The Foundation has provided more than
$50 million through over 200 grants for breakthrough
depression research that promises to transform the way
depression is viewed, diagnosed, treated and prevented.
Currently, HDRF has a potential new class of medication in
pilot clinical trials at Mount Sinai Medical Center,
Columbia University, and Stanford University. HDRF is also
funding clinical trials into other novel therapeutics and
diagnostic tests at Johns Hopkins, University of San Diego,
and the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
|