Pajamas & A Purpose is a new passion project I'm taking on. I first heard about the organization through its Founder & Executive Director, Carline Beaubrun who I met through Young Event Professionals in January 2019.  She founded the 501(c)3 with some of her friends as a way to give back to local Long Island based charities with missions centered around women and children.

​The New Year, New Me Empowerment Brunch was the kick-off event of 2020.  It was hosted at the Viana Hotel & Spa in Westbury, NY for a group of about 85 women.  The goal of the event was for attendees to have a mindful start to the new year by giving them the chance to create their own Vision Boards, attend a Consious Connected Breathwork session conducted by the Jedi of Calm Kathleen Booker,  recieve mini back and neck massages by the talented staff of the Viana Spa, and last but most importantly, a motivational session listening to the inspiring stories from four women affected by domestic violence to remind everyone why they attended the benefit. 

Jennifer Capezzi from LI Against Domestic Violence attended the benefit and spoke about the important work LIADV has been doing since 1976, "before helping domestic violence victims was cool," in the words of Capezzi.  All of the proceeds from the brunch went to their amazing services addressing all aspects of both female and male victims' lives - including counseling, courtroom advocacy, legal assistance, vocational and financial training, and more in over 120 languages. 

The afternoon was kept lighthearted and inspiring with the upbeat and engaging voice of Jessica Sinclair,  master Emcee, and the sounds of DJ Gemani.  At one point, the room interupted into a conga line! 

Pajamas & A Purpose hosts an event a month and you can learn all about them on their website. If you sign up to become a member, for a $50 donation a year, you'll recieve early access to all event news, ticket sales and more. 

I'm so excited to continue working with such amazing women on our important mission to fund a variety of important causes accross Long Island!  Working with Pajamas & A Purpose really allows me to get creative and work on some amazing out-of-the-box fundraising ideas. Can't wait to see where it takes me this year. 

Last week, on October 4th, a handful of generous NYPD officials organized and hosted a BBQ and open bar at the Central Park Boat Basin to benefit both The Ronald McDonald House of New York and the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.

I was there supporting the Waxman Foundation by selling raffle tickets to the crowd of more then 125 attendees made up of both civilians and NYPD officers. The event raised a few thousand dollars for each charity and it was an amazing way to spend a fall Friday night!

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RAND Luxury, Inc. produced a private charity brunch in collaboration with Experience Auto Group’s Ferrari Maserati of Long Island, on one of the hottest Saturdays in July - Saturday, July 20th, 2019. The exclusive, invitation-only brunch hosted at the private Bridgehampton estate of Kenneth and Maria Fishel benefited The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF), which is dedicated to finding cures for cancer, and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, the only hospital on the East End of Long Island.

​The Concours hosted more than a dozen Ferrari & Maserati luxury vehicles including a Maclaren Senna 2019 (orange pictured above). Attendees voted on the best in show and were able to bid on items in a live and silent auction hosted by Grandstand Sports Memorabilia, with the proceeds benefitting the charities mentioned. 

I know absolutely nothing about luxury cars, but it was fun to pretend and ogle at these gorgeous and unique vehicles, and all for a great cause! 

For more photos: https://www.societyallure.com/Hamptons-2019/Ferrari-Maserati-of-Long-Island-Brunch-Concours-benefiting/

The 15th Annual Hamptons Happening to benefit the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation occurred on July 13, 2019 in Bridgehampton, NY at the estate of Maria & Ken Fishel. 

As the Development Manager for SWCRF, this chef-tasting cocktail fundraiser is one of my main responsibilities and after a full 12 months of planning, working with 27 different chefs and restaurants, 13 different liquor/beverage sponsors, 42 in-kind & auction donors, this year it was even bigger and better than in the past. We had about 300 attendees and raised a record-breaking $450,000 for cancer research. This year we honored celebrity chef and Emmy-Awarding Winning cooking show host Lidia Bastianich and generations of the Bastianich family; Ian Duke, legendary owner of five restaurants in Southampton and New York City including Southampton Social Club and Union Cantina; business honoree, Antonella Bertello, real estate entrepreneur and owner of the historic The Baker House 1650 boutique hotel in East Hampton; and iconic womenswear designer Nicole Miller as fashion honoree.

Our attendees enjoyed more than three dozen food, wine and spirit tastings representing some of the favorite five-star culinary destinations around the world including Colombia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.  Dessert stations sweetened the night with favorites such as Baked by Melissa hand-crafted mini cupcakes, Kurly Kürtősh chimney cakes (my personal favorite), and Nutella, which served its famous hazelnut cocoa spread over freshly baked banana bread and topped in hazelnuts.

One of my favorite parts of my job is working with these chefs and restaurants from both New York City & The Hamptons to work together and pull off an amazing fundraiser that  makes a difference for cancer research. 

Learn more about the event here and check out the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation: http://waxmancancer.org/hamptons

One of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation annual fundraisers is our Collaborate for a Cure Luncheon attended by 125 philanthropic women and men of New York City and raised nearly $40,000 for cancer research.

This year’s celebrated fashion designer was native New Yorker Dennis Basso who presented a show of select evening wear pieces from his Fall 2019 collection. Don Lemon of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon was master of ceremonies. And guests enjoyed an elegant luncheon catered by City Chefs Catering paired with wines from Palm Bay International.

Learn more about the work SWCRF does at www.waxmancancer.org.

May 1, 2019 was an amazing night in downtown New York City.  After a year and a half of cultivation, hard work and dedication, the Associates Board of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation hosted a cocktail party for 250 attendees at  The DL, a rofotop hot spot on the corner of Delancey Street and Ludlow Street and raised $30,000. 

Part of my job at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation was to assemble a young professionals board and coordinate a fundraising initiative and after a year and a half of cultivating an amazing group of dedicated individuals, we did it! The venue was very charitable and generous and provided all of the food for the evening at no additional cost. I brought in some delicious liquor sponsors including Haas Brothers Tequila and Rum, Simple Vodka and Snackadabra Cookie Shots.  Additionally we hosted a pack-a-prize raffle  with ticket priced low at $5 each of 10 for $40 and raised $1,300 from the raffle alone! We also hosted an amazing cuban dancer and roll up cigar bar to keep with the Havana Nights theme. 

Overall it was an amazing night and I can't wait to see what this group does next! 

View pictures and more: https://www.waxmancancer.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/30000-raised-for-cancer-research/ 

This year marked the first annual Books for Kids Gala at The Edison Ballroom. Books for Kids promotes literacy among all children with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children. Books for Kids creates libraries, donates books, and implements literacy programs to develop the critical early foundation and skills which young children need to be successful in life.

The foundation usually hosts a casino night to raise funds for their mission, but this year they hosted an elegant cocktail party for 300 guests  and gave "Not Quite Narwhal" by Jessica Sima the first annual Book of the Year Award. One of the evening's highlights was when two librians, who volunteer their time to read to the children in Books for Kids Supported Schools, gave an example of "storytime" to the attendees. They performed an enthuastic and animated reading of "We're in a Book!"  by Mo Williams.  The audience loved it and ave a standing ovation at the peek into the fun that Books for Kids provides to developing children. 

As one of their event volunteers, I worked check in using Check-In Tech software and then assisted with the paddle raise using Givergy. Givergy staff was also on site and in all of my experience working with them, I have never encountered a more rude staff that treated volunteers so badly. I would not recommend working with them.

Learn more about Books for Kids here: https://www.booksforkids.org/ 

After volunteering at the Crawl for Cancer in 2018, I was told the organizers of the annual Bar Crawl were looking for a change in supporting organization and I convinced them to organize the 2019 bar crawl to support the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. After a year of prepping and hyping people up to participate, we rallied 24 teams together to drink for a cause on March 31, 2019. 

For the 2019 event, proceeds benefitting both the SWCRF and Allyson Whitney Foundation. SWCRF works to raise funds and grants them to researchers around the world collaborative to find the genetic causes of cancer, resulting inl less toxic and more efficient treatments.  While the Allyson Whitney Foundation raises money to provide "Life Interrupted" grants to young men and women diagnosed with cancer. Both organizations do amazing work in the field of cancer - on the medical research side and on the  patient care side. 

Learn more and get involved in next year's crawl here: ​https://www.crawlforcancer.org/newyork

I was lucky enough to be invited to the United Negro College Fund Gala by a friend of the foundation's Executive Director, Diego Alverez. The 75th annual gala celebrated the founding of the amazing organization with the mission of all Americans with equal access to a college education that prepares them for rich intellectual lives, competitive and fulfilling careers, engaged citizenship and service to our nation.

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was honored for his support of the organization and overall passion for education and the room raised more than a half a million dollars to invest in UNCF’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the deserving students that attend them.

Learn more: https://www.uncf.org 

In the beginning of this year, I had a goal to get more involved int he networking organizations I a a part of. I reached out to the founder and president of Young Event Professionals (YEP) and they invited me to be more involved as a board role to assist with the planning of their networking events! As the newest Director of Sponsorships it is my role to work to bring the vendors into the organization to showcase their unique services. 

This has been such a fun role for me because I have been able to give back to the many vendors who have donated to my fundraising events in the past.  In my position, I'm able to give these generous brands an outlet to showcase their talents to other event industry professionals who can hire them for future business! It's a real #PayItForward moment for me - which I love. Follow us on EventBrite for more information: ​https://www.eventbrite.com/o/young-event-professionals-3731493885