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Lupus Campaign
NEW YORK, NY – May 22, 2018. The 9th annual
Lupus Research
Alliance
Lupus Handbag Luncheon & Silent Auction
honored two stand-out supporters to the lupus cause:
world-leading sports brand PUMA and IBM Associate
Partner
Veronica Vargas Lupo.
PUMA was
named “Corporate Visionary Partner” in appreciation for the
company’s innovative marketing partnership with Selena
Gomez that boosted global visibility for lupus and
generated a significant contribution for the Lupus Research
Alliance. This spring the company launched Selena’s design,
the Phenom Lux sneaker sporting her signature anklet chain
that sold out in hours and raised $100,000 for lupus
research. Just last week, Selena launched PUMA’s new Defy
shoe at a star-studded event at Paramount Studios in Los
Angeles where lupus and the Lupus Research Alliance were
recognized with style.
PUMA Global Entertainment Marketing and Partnerships Head
Tracy Pendleton accepted the award on the company’s
behalf. Ms. Pendleton commented, “It’s always a goal to
find partners who feel passionate about important causes,
and one of the goals in signing Selena Gomez as a brand
ambassador was to put together meaningful ways to provide
awareness and support for the Lupus Research Alliance, a
cause near and dear to Selena’s heart.”
Veronica
Vargas Lupo received the 2018 “Woman of Achievement Award”
for her long-time dedication to fulfilling the
organization’s mission. She joined the organization in 2011
and helped build the Young Leaders group. In years past,
Ms. Lupo has helped in many capacities at the luncheon at
which she is now honored today. In addition to her
fundraising role, she serves as a mentor to young women
diagnosed with lupus and draws on her own experiences to
inspire, teach and support.
Ms. Vargas
Lupo offered this advice to those diagnosed with the
disease: “Lupus is not a life sentence. Life does not end
with diagnosis. It is hard, it has its ups and downs, it may
be lonely at times. But a life with lupus can be lived to
the fullest, filled with joy, laughter, kids of your own, a
career and anything you can dream of.”
Hosted by
the Lupus Research Alliance, the luncheon celebrated
scientific research as the place where hope begins for
people living with this chronic disease that has few
treatments and no cure. A silent auction featured 75
handbags donated by top designers, and a first-ever drawing
for “the” Gucci handbag generated thousands in
contributions.
Three highly accomplished women co-chaired the luncheon:
Felice
Axelrod, Special Projects at Bloomberg Philanthropies;
Alison Lee, Lupus Research Alliance volunteer and
lupus advocate; and Teri Wilford Wood, Associate
General Counsel of IBM.
Past Women
of Achievement served as this year’s honorary luncheon
co-chairs:
Claudia
Cividino,
CEO of Bally Americas; Desiree Gruber, CEO of Full
Picture and Founder of Project Runway; Brett Heyman,
Founder of fashion company Edie Parker; and Former First
Lady of New York State and accomplished author Matilda
Raffa Cuomo.
NY’s Leaders Turn Out for Lupus
More than 300 prominent women and men from New York’s
fashion, society, entertainment, publishing, philanthropic
and lupus communities were in attendance. Many members of
the Lupus Research Alliance leadership were actively
involved in planning the luncheon including Jennie
DeScherer, Carol Weisman and Teri Wilford Wood.
Noted philanthropists and socialites in attendance included
Cindy Secunda, Arlyn
Gardner and Bonnie
Englebardt Lautenberg.
Supporters
from the fashion industry included:
Elizabeth Schweitzer Miller,
Director, Merchandise
Planning & Allocation at Bloomingdale's; Consultant and
former Bloomingdale’s senior vice president of public
relations, special events and corporate philanthropy,
Anne Keating; and Karen Giberson,
President Accessories Council. Dedicated Lupus Research
Alliance supporter and fashion industry leader Mary Belle
was a highly active participant in the Luncheon Committee.
“A hallmark
of the New York spring season and May Lupus Awareness Month,
this year’s luncheon celebrates women whose passion and
positive attitude inspire others to reach and achieve,”
comments Lupus Research Alliance President and CEO,
Kenneth M. Farber. “We were proud to also honor the
sports brand PUMA for an innovative collaboration with lupus
champion Selena Gomez that brings much-needed resources to
accelerate the drive for new treatments and a cure.”
About
Lupus
Lupus is a
chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of
people worldwide. More than 90% of lupus sufferers are
women, mostly young women between the ages of 15 to 44.
Women of color are especially at risk. In lupus, the immune
system, which is designed to protect against infection,
creates antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues and
organs -- the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, blood, skin, and
joints.
About
the Lupus Research Alliance
The
Lupus Research
Alliance
is the largest private funder of lupus research, united to
free the world from lupus by harnessing the power of
innovative science to make a difference for people living
with the prototypical autoimmune disease. Through the power
of collaboration, we are relentlessly focused on seizing
every opportunity to transform the lives of all affected –
patients, families, loved ones and the entire lupus
community.
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