|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By: Lieba Nesis
On Monday October 28, 2024 The Angel Ball honored Grace Cayre at Cipriani Wall Street with cocktails beginning at 6:30 PM. The black tie affair gathered over 600 attendees from all over the globe at $2,000 a ticket. Gabrielle’s foundation was started by Denise Rich after her daughter Gabrielle Rich Aouad was diagnosed with advance stage Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 23 after graduating with honors from Oxford University as a champion skier fluent in 5 languages. Gabrielle died four years later in the fall of 1996 after a laborious battle with the incurable malady. Denise was goaded by her husband Marc Rich to turn pain into purpose and has since raised $43 million for blood cancer research since the inception of the organization 28 years ago. With more than 15 treatments available blood cancer is no longer the death sentence it was in the 90’s as the race for a cure continues unabated.
Tonight’s evening was glamorous, lugubrious and joyful-stirring up a panoply of emotions throughout the enchanting evening. The lavish pink floral decor, coupled with pink tablecloths and napkins were Barbie inspired as guests posed for pictures on the lengthy red carpet. Hearing from Jace Yawnick a 25-year-old diagnosed with primary mediastinal B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January, requiring 96 hours of chemo straight on a regular basis was heart wrenching. His father recently wrote up a will for his ailing only child as Jace’s optimism and gratitude was both infectious and agonizing-no young adult should have to endure his pain.
Angel Ball 2024 Honors Grace Cayre at Cipriani Wall Street
On October 28, 2024, the Angel Ball honored Grace Cayre at Cipriani Wall Street, welcoming over 600 guests to the black-tie event, each paying $2,000 to attend.
Founded by Denise Rich in memory of her daughter, Gabrielle Rich Aouad, who passed from advanced-stage Hodgkin’s disease at 27, the foundation has raised $43 million for blood cancer research over its 28-year history.
Attendees were rightfully inspired by his journey as $70,000 was raised for Lorraine Schwartz earrings, while an Enrique Cabrera sculpture went for $300,000. The luminous crowd included: Clive Davis, Fran Weissler, Nikki Haskell, Lorraine Schwartz, Simon Huck, Ofira Sandberg, Jean Shafiroff, Dr. Norman and Mia Rowe, Ubah Hassan, Star Jones, Ramona Singer, Countess de Lesseps, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Nicole Salmasi, Michelle Sacks Walker, Joy Corrigan, Frida Aasen, Scott Lipps, Dr. Charles and Anna Pierce, Ellen von Unwerth, Dennis Basso, Charlie Walk, Margaret Josephs, Elizabeth Segerstrom, Ramona Singer, Louise Kornfeld, Liz Brewer, Michelle Herbert, Brandon Pena, Jordan Ross, Silvia Frieser, Trina, Michael, Shirley, and Joe Cayre, Nurit Kahane, Keino Aikawa, Keino Ono Aoki and Norah Lawlor.
Sitting near publicity guru Norah Lawlor, who ran every Hamptons event this summer and continues her dominance in Palm Beach and Manhattan, was enlightening, as many of her grateful clients came over to talk shop as everyone knows Norah never stops working. Norah even reminisced about the appearance of Michael Jackson at the first Angel Ball 26 years ago-those were the days. Tonight was also about Midtown Equities owners the Cayre family, who donate time and money to dozens of charitable causes. Proprietors of the highly successful Casa Cipriani they are set to open a new club Chez Margaux this Saturday evening.
Grace Cayre, daughter of scion Joe, was lauded by Denise for visiting and advocating for cancer patients as a supporter of Sloan Kettering, Ronald McDonald House and the Morris Franco Cancer Center for the past 20 years. Grace, in the new “it” color black, spoke movingly of the friends she lost to cancer and how time is the only thing we have on our side. On that note, the main course of sirloin was finally served at 9:30 PM as guests enjoyed the performances of Adrienne Warren and Luke K. The finale peaked with the tunes of Busta Rhymes who got the audience going with “I Know What You Want,” and “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See.” Exiting the venue, attendees were gifted with a bag loaded with lotions, vitamins and socks-necessities for life in the bustling and gritty Big Apple.
