Woman of Inspiration lives the title.
Children’s Advocacy Centers nets $763K at Rockefeller dinner
Philanthropist Lisenne Rockefeller was feted during an opulent event Sept. 6 in the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center that was attended by everybody who’s anybody in Little Rock.
The Woman of Inspiration dinner was a fundraiser for the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas and is designed to honor a woman who has made a contribution to society for the benefit of children in general and who has gone above and beyond as a fundraiser for the agency.
A select group of guests took photos with Rockefeller at a VIP reception at the Little Rock Marriott. They then joined other guests as they perused silent-auction items in the ballroom lobby of the convention center. Attendees were treated to a Carolina Herrera fashion show presented by Barbara/Jean Ltd. as they dined on a fourcourse meal culminating with chicken saltimbocca roulade.
Event co-chairmen Anne Preston and Alisha Curtis welcomed guests and made special acknowledgments. A video presentation featuring the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers was introduced by executive director Elizabeth Pulley. Tom Kennedy, event corporate chairman and vice president of public affairs for Entergy, presented the 2017 Blue Ribbon award to KFSM chief meteorologist Garrett Lewis, who shared his story of childhood sexual abuse. Kennedy himself shared a harrowing anecdote about a child-abuse case he took on as a prosecuting attorney.
William Rockefeller introduced his mother, who was also lauded by multiple tribute-givers in a video. Rockefeller gave a few words of thanks — and gratitude for the attendees’ support of the centers — before closing remarks by honorary event chairman Susan Hutchinson.
The event, which also included a special appeal, raised more than $763,000 for Children’s Advocacy Centers’ community-based facilities, which help reduce trauma for young survivors of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.