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| Looking west across 64th Street from Lexington Avenue. 2:30 PM. Photo: JH. |
April 9, 2010. Yesterday was another very warm summer’s day in early April in New York. Everybody loved it including the trees and the flowers.
It was a busy day on the charity and events circuit. There were luncheons -- East End Hospice’s 11th Annual Valentine Salon; the Coalition for the Homeless’ 16th Annual Women Mean Business luncheon at the Pierre, with Arianna Huffington, the corporate nominee and speaker.
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There was a book party down on East 10th and Fifth for Wendy Burden and her new book “Dead End Gene Pool,” given by her friend, Sunny Bates. Up at the Park Avenue Armory the Antiquarian Book Fair opened. If you’re a book lover, a book coveter, a would be book acquirer, GO. It’s like taking a few minutes off and going to heaven.
Although it should be said that at this very moment/date, the blooming blossoms, flowers and budding trees in our city are beautiful and a fresh, light, poetic way. They lift everything.
Also last night in New York, Boys Town of Italy held its “Ball of the Year,” the 65th Annual. Magic Johnson was one of the honorees for the 3rd annual Council of Urban Professionals Leadership Awards at Espace. And over at the Mandarin Oriental, the Friends of New Yorkers for Children hosted the 7th Annual Spring Dinner Dance: A Fool’s Fete. The “Friends” are generally speaking, the so-called junior group – 30-something through 40-something.
I like going to this particular party for two reasons: it’s a very good cause, and because the young women dress and look glamorous and great.
This organization was the brainchild of Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta who was himself a foster child in New York to help other foster children prepare for independence (and further education). Unless you’ve been a foster child, you don’t know the burden set on the shoulders and in the heart of the child. It is wounding and they often carry it through their lives.
Nick Scoppetta’s idea, coming from experience, was to find these kids about to leave these foster homes and go out into the world alone, and help them prepare, give them a helping hand. NYFC, for example, provides those going on to college with supplies (including a laptop), guidance and financial assistance.
That burden I mentioned lifts at least somewhat when a young person knows there is someone looking after their interests. It helps with older people too.
The event, which was sponsored by Akris, raised $450,000 in contributions last night. Whitney Port, Olivia Palermo and Tinsley Mortimer were all that and all looking great. But the vibe was off this year. It wasn’t the girls in their long dresses, or the young men in their dinner jackets. It wasn’t the dinner which was basic and delicious. Or the table décor which were simple and elegant. What was it? When Nick Scoppetta spoke to the crowd they were not attentive and chatting so actively it was hard to hear the Commissioner.
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Later I asked a friend of mine who was there for her sense of it. She saw it differently, and was hard about it. She wrote:
“Sorry. I think the night was a bit soulless. I watched the supposed committee while Nick Scoppetta (a real hero and founder of the org) was speaking. They were waving to the audience, sending kisses, chatting with each other and generally awful, and suspicious to me – about why they were chairing the damn thing. Then Chantall Schloss (the honoree) spoke and surprisingly, miraculously they listened. She is their poster girl and, I suspect, gives this fashion crowd a credible sound bite.”
This is not uncommon at these galas, and the offenders are any age, any generation. Part of it is the Been There Done That Syndrome. This happens to all of us. When you go to as many charity and philanthropic events as I do – and many people go to almost as many as I do – you see people losing their reason-I’m-here concentration.
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One of the reasons I don’t feel that way is because I work at it. I make it my business to “find” something of value to impart. It’s one way of helping also a method of finding the new (so that you don’t die of boredom). However, there is also the matter of paying attention to where we are at the moment. For many of us this is a natural task that we have to work at. For others it is a missing chip. This is epidemic in our metropolitan life right now and it’s to no one’s advantage.
The wonderful irony is that the presence of this good looking crowd last night made it possible for this great organization to raise money to continue to help foster children go out into the world. This is good for them and for all of us. It’s a vote for mankind. And it was last night, a beautiful night in New York. |
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