Americares relief benefit raises nearly $1.8M
The 35th annual Americares Airlift Benefit, held Oct. 1, raised nearly $1.8 million for the healthfocused relief and development organization’s programs worldwide.
Craig Melvin, a news anchor on NBC News’ “TODAY,” and co-host of “3rd Hour of Today” served as master of ceremonies.
“We are so grateful for the incredible support that we received at this year’s Americares Airlift Benefit,” said Americares President and CEO Christine Squires.
Nearly 400 guests attended the benefit at the Citi Aviation Hangar at Westchester County Airport in West Harrison, N.Y.
“The funds raised will help support our responses to current and future emergencies, such as Hurricane Ian, as well as fuel our ongoing programs that improve health in communities across the globe.”
The Americares Airlift Benefit celebrates the organization’s health programs and the health workers and partners who make the programs possible. This year’s event highlighted Americares relief efforts for Hurricane Fiona, the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and its response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Americares Senior Director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs Dr. Brenda Rivera-García and Americares Director of Complex Emergencies Adam Keehn were the featured speakers.
Percival Barretto-Ko, Roberta and James Conroy, Erica Hill and David Yount, Marti Noxon, and Joy and Dr. Eric Weintz co-chaired the event.
The benefit was produced by Rafanelli Events, led by event planner Bryan Rafanelli, who worked for the Obama White House and designed the weddings of Chelsea Clinton, Matt Damon, Allison Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, among others.
Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Since its founding nearly 40 years ago, Americares has provided more than $20 billion in aid to 164 countries, including the United States. For more information, visit americares.org.
Cabaret event to raise money for school clothes assistance
Clothes To Kids of Fairfield County will hold its traditional biggest-fundraiser-of-the-year on Thursday to provide quality school clothing for children in need.
The event, set for 6 to 10 p.m. at Curtain Call Theatre, 1349 Newfield Ave., in Stamford, will include a cocktails and hors d’oeuvres reception, a silent auction and a private performance of the musical “Cabaret” by Curtain Call Theatre Company.
Sponsors include the Berni families, Barbara Landau, Livia Feig, Glaser Family Farms, Vicki Puciato, Oak Financial Group and Chaos Conquered LLC. The event committee, under co-chairs Anne Chiapetta and Merryl Hackman, includes Lynn Berni, Lynne Byington, Kristen Cognetta, Livia Feig, Karen Gasparini, Alice Hallowell, Carol Komornik, Carol Lyvers, Kathianne Robins, Sara Sherlock and Lindsay Stillwell.
Tickets are available at clothestokidsfairfieldcounty.org/ events/cabaret-the-fundraiser/.
Clothes To Kids of Fairfield County works on the idea of a community where every schoolaged child has quality clothing so they may attend school with the confidence and self-esteem needed to achieve academic success.
Clothes To Kids offers a boutique-style setting where children work with a personal shopper to choose clothing from a curated selection of new and quality used clothing; each eligible child in grades K-12 can shop twice a year for a full week’s wardrobe of school clothing.
Since 2016, the organization has provided clothing to low-income or in-crisis school-aged children in Fairfield County free of charge. New families apply every week for assistance. To meet the growing need, Clothes To Kids depends on the generosity of individuals and businesses for financial support and donations of clothing and shoes.
Church volunteers set to plant hundreds of trees in county
On Saturday, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints plan to plant more than 200 trees throughout Fairfield County in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the First Vision.
Both the number and the trees themselves are symbolic of an event that occurred in the spring of 1820 that was foundational in the organization of the church in western New York, according to organizers. The event, which was delayed two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed to benefit all the residents of the county and “to create quiet, sacred groves that will provide shade and quiet spaces for the benefit of all who live within our communities.”
Volunteers from three of the church’s Fairfield County meetinghouses — in New Canaan, Stamford and Trumbull — will assemble at 9 a.m. and disburse to plant trees in areas identified by the towns’ park departments and tree wardens.