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Local Charity Aims to
Cure Deadly Pediatric
Cancer With Star-Studded Fundraiser Gala
For the fourth year in a row, New York City-based
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) The Cristian Rivera Foundation is
gathering celebrities, supporters and donors to raise money
toward a groundbreaking clinical trial aimed at curing
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).
The fourth annual Cristian Rivera Foundation
Fundraiser Gala will be held at Copacabana Supper Club and
Event Space in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday, September 13,
2012, the date that would have marked foundation namesake
Cristian Rivera’s tenth birthday had he not succumbed to
DIPG in January 2009. Rivera was only 4 years old when he
was diagnosed with the rare pediatric brain stem tumor,
which generally affects children between the ages of 1 and
9. Approximately 200 children are diagnosed
with DIPG each year in the United States and most only
survive for three to 18 months after diagnosis.
Through auction items,
ticket sales and more, the fourth annual Cristian Rivera
Foundation Fundraiser Gala will raise money in support of a
promising FDA-approved clinical trial at Memorial Sloan
Kettering and Weill Cornell Medical Center that officially
got underway on May 1, 2012, thanks to the more than
$200,000 in donations from the Cristian Rivera Foundation to
date. Spearheaded by Dr. Mark Souweidane, the Director of
the Weill Cornell Pediatric Brain and Spine Center, this
groundbreaking trial is the first of its kind to use
convection-enhanced delivery to administer radio
immunotherapy to children with an otherwise incurable tumor.
Dr. Souweidane has miraculously found a way to operate on a
tumor that had, until now, been deemed inoperable and so
far, he has operated on two young patients, both of whom
continue to exceed expectations as they recover from
surgery. The Cristian Rivera Foundation is proud to support
Dr. Souweidane’s important and historic research.
The fourth annual Cristian Rivera Foundation
Fundraiser Gala will be hosted by Cristian Rivera Foundation
Committee Members Kenan Thompson, star of Saturday Night
Live, and Darlene Rodriguez, co-anchor of NBC’s
award-winning
Today in New York.
The event kicks off at 6pm with red carpet arrivals from
esteemed committee members. Tickets start at $100 and
include passed hors d'oeuvres, four hours of open bar, and
dinner provided by Celebrity Chefs Alex Garcia and Ricardo
Cardona, both committee members of the Cristian Rivera
Foundation.
There will also be live and silent auctions offering
one-of-a-kind items and experiences.
The fourth annual Cristian Rivera Foundation Fundraiser Gala
will begin at 6pm and end at 10pm on Thursday, September 13.
The Copacabana Supper Club and Event Space is located at 268
West 47th Street, on the corner of Eighth Avenue in
Manhattan’s Times Square.
Tickets to the fourth annual Cristian Rivera Foundation
Fundraiser Gala are available now by visiting
www.cristianriverafoundation.org .
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