‘JOEY’ PREMIERE: BATTLING CF IN STYLE
Boston concessions czar Joe O’Donnell is writing a Hollywood-style ending to cystic fibrosis — raising more than $50 million to fight the disease through his annual Joey O’Donnell Film Premiere.
“We started with this thing 32 years ago and right now we’re doing over $1 million a year,” O’Donnell told the Track. “It’s a big, friendly cocktail party and a nice movie and people love it.”
This year’s event, hosted by O’Donnell, his wife, Kathy, and daughters Casey and Kate, will be Nov. 6 at the Natick Mall. As always, all the proceeds will go to the fight against the genetic disease that attacks the respiratory, digestive and reproductive systems in some 30,000 children and adults.
O’Donnell and Kathy started The Joey Fund after their 12-year-old son, Joey, died after a courageous battle with CF. At the time, there was no cure.
Now, thanks in large part to The Joey Fund and its partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, great strides have been made. The FDA has approved the drugs Orkambi and Kalydeco, important advances for a large portion of patients stricken by CF.
“Right now, we’ve got a drug for about 60 percent of our kids,” O’Donnell said.
“It’s amazing to see these kids now breathing like race horses, playing hockey, doing stuff they never dreamed they’d do.”
O’Donnell started the annual film premiere because, since he supplied concessions to most of the area theaters and owned a couple dozen, it seemed a natural partnership. The first year, the event raised $16,000. This year, it will raise more than $1 million.
“People love it,” he said. “We’ll have almost 1,200 guests and it’s always a firstclass thing.”
The event features regional cuisine from local restaurants, including Porcini’s, Not Your Average Joe’s, Meatball Kitchen, Neiman Marcus Cafe, Grill 23, Kowloon, Zaftigs, Trade and many more. And each year, O’Donnell gets a new flick to premiere at least a week before it is released to the public. Past movies have included the James Bond thriller “Spectre,” “The King’s Speech” and — at the very first event, Paul Newman’s “The Verdict.”
This year’s flick is still under wraps, but we can tell you it’s a good one. Go to joeyfund.org for tickets and information and do tell ’em the Track sent you!