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Give Kids a Shot! National
Meningitis Association Gala 2013 A Smashing Success
Benefit to Save Lives in the Fight against
Meningitis,
a Vaccine-Preventable Disease
Honored Samantha & Kyle Busch, NASCAR
Champion, Mass. State Senator Jack Hart, Cindy Krejny and
William Schaffner, MD.
The annual National Meningitis Association (NMA)
Give Kids a Shot Gala was once again an
emotion filled evening but a stellar success in aiding the
fight against meningitis, a potentially vaccine preventable
disease. Held in the elegant ballrooms of the historic New
York Athletic Club with phenomenal views of Central Park as
a backdrop, hundreds of New York’s movers and shakers turned
out to support the cause and also to congratulate meningitis
survivor & Para Olympic Gold Medalist Nick Springer,
an Honorary Chair along with Ambassador & Mrs. John L.
Loeb, Jr.
Guests mingled over cocktails and hors
d’oeuvres while poring over the dazzling array of Silent
Auction gifts from breathtaking jewels to one of a kind
fashions and even a commemorative bottle of Medea Vodka with
an LED message from Richard Thomas shimmering across
the bottle like a Broadway marquee. NMA President Lynn
Bozof and Committee Co-Chairs Sara Herbert Galloway,
Gary Springer and Lenore Cooney swirled through
the room greeting friends and introducing this year’s
honorees: Dr. William Schaffner, Health Achievement
Award Honoree for his advocacy of the role of vaccines in
protecting individual and community health; Cindy Krejny,
Moms on Meningitis Outstanding Service Award for her
tireless efforts to educate the public about meningitis and
her work with Ohio lawmakers to mandate vaccination for
college students; Massachusetts State Senator Jack Hart
who pushed the passage of a mandatory vaccination in his
home state, with the Nancy Ford Springer Inspiration Award
and NASCAR record breaking winner Kyle Busch & his
wife Samantha with the Community Leadership Award
for the work of their Kyle Busch Foundation in support
of programs that aid disabled and disadvantaged children
around the country.
President Lynn Bozof gave moving
testimony to the reason everyone was gathered – to prevent
this dreaded disease by having pre-teens and teens
vaccinated.
Well known author and broadcast journalist
Rita Cosby, filling in for longtime NMA host actor
Richard Thomas, who was filming, kept the evening
running smoothly. Unexpectedly, Thomas showed up on a break
from shooting Law & Order SVU to personally
congratulate the honorees and thank all the supporters.
The National Meningitis Association (NMA) is
a nonprofit organization founded by parents of children who
have died or live with long-term effects from meningococcal
disease, also called bacterial meningitis. NMA works to
protect families from the potentially devastating effects of
meningococcal disease by educating the public, medical
professionals and others about the disease and its
prevention. The NMA network also provides critical emotional
support for families who have been affected by meningococcal
disease. Additionally, NMA raises awareness of other
preventable diseases and recommended vaccines across
the lifespan.
Honorary Chairs for the event were
Ambassador & Mrs. John L. Loeb, Jr. & Para-Olympic Gold
Medalist Nick Springer; Gala Chairs Lenore Cooney,
Cooney/Waters Group, Sara Herbert-Galloway & Gary
Springer, Springer Associates PR; Vice Chairs, Joanna
Goldenstein, KPMG,LLP; Barry J. Klarberg
Monarch Wealth & Business Management.: Ulrika “Red”
Nilsson, Redcircle International, Inc. & Heike M.
Vogel, Arent Fox LLP; Auction Chairs, Matt Klarberg,
Monarch Wealth & Business Management and
Errol Rappaport.
Honorary Committee included Michael
Badalucco, Susan & Hon. James A. Baker III, Lynn Grossman &
Bob Balaban, Steve Buscemi, Victor Calise,
Commissioner Disabilities, Mayor’s Office, City of New
York, U.S, Senator Susan Collins, Judy & Rod Gilbert,
Adam Graves, Amy Madigan & Ed Harris, Lainie Kazan, Felicity
Huffman William H. Macy, Chenoa Maxwell, Congressman Michael
M. Michaud, James Naughton, Congresswoman Shelly Pingree,
Heather Randall, Susan Sarandon, Joe Sirola, U.S. Senator
Olympia J. Snowe,
Liv Ullman.
Committee members included Stewart Lane &
Bonnie Comley, Norma Abbene, Jeri Acosta, Eileen Boyle, Lynn
& Alan Bozof, Peggy & Mike Bressler, Elizabeth
Browning, Lori & Curt Buher, Lorraine C. Cancro, Elizabeth
Cier, Terry M. & J. Price Corr, M.D. , Thomas Cook, Rita
Cosby, Christine DeLisle, Jamie DeRoy, Bonnie Pfeifer Evans,
Robert Farber, Laura & Jack Fitzpatrick, Jeri Brooks,
Greenwell, Jonathan Hadaya, Laura & Ken Hartwig, Charlotte &
Harvey Hodges,
David Hryck,,
Lucia Hwong-Gordon, Susan James, Marcie L. Kammel, Nikki
Klarberg, Josh Klein, Jeffrey Kramer, Donna & Michael
Laforgia, Lucy Jane Lang, Marian Koltai-Levine & Dan Levine,
Kedakai & James Lipton, Ida Liu, Barbara & Earl Magdovitz.
Leslie Maier, Cindy Marinangel, Chenoa Maxwell, Kevin
McGovern, Sherri Michelstein, Jennifer Mocbeichel,
Jan & Michael Planit, Susan & Peter Purdy, Frank Recchia,
April Sandmeyer, Cassandra Seidenfeld, Jean & Martin
Shafiroff, Allison Strassberg, LaForce + Stevens, Carol &
Gerald Tufano, Carolyn & Rick Waghorne and Mr. & Mrs. John
Wukovits III.
Medical Committee includes Richard Besser,
M.D, ABC News; Paul Offit M.D. Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia; Nancy Snyderman, M.D.NBC
News.; James C. Turner, M.D., Professor of
Internal medicine, University of Virginia and
Dr. Roger W. Yurt, Chief of Burn Surgery, NY
Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Also attending were Logan West,
Miss Teen USA 2012 & Emma Kenney, teen star of
Showtime's "Shameless" ; Bree Michael Warner,
star of Nickelodeon’s “I Carly” and NMA Teen
Ambassadors, brother and sister, Justin and Alana
Galloway.
An
Online Charity Buzz Auction
features an extraordinary array of one-of-a-kind
experiences, art work and luxury items such as a week for
twelve in an elegant Acapulco Cliffside villa; VIP tickets
to the Justin Timberlake & Jay Z Concert at
Yankee Stadium;
Exclusive NASCAR Sprint Cup VIP Experience for 4 at
Your Choice of Event;
Behind-the-Scenes Tour for 4 of
Good
Morning America
in NYC with ABC News' Dr. Richard Besser;
Ermenegildo Zegna Made-to-Measure Blazer;
Calla Lilly Original archival pigment print from famed
fashion photographer Robert Farber's book
Natural Beauty,
Sport
Medicine Therapy Sessions with Tamara Eristavi in NYC;
VIP Passes to Art Southampton, the premiere international
contemporary art fair in the Hamptons and much more.
To
bid on the Online Auction at Charity Buzz please go to:
http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/nma/catalog_items?locale=en&page=1
For more information about NMA’s
life-saving work,
please visit
www.nmaus.org
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