Nightshine: “If it’s a great cause, Michael is there”
As the co-founder and CEO of Hyde Park Jewelers, Michael Pollak knows a thing or two about sparkle and shine.
So when the Denver Health Foundation selected him as the recipient of the 2018 Wellington E. Webb Award for Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare Philanthropy, the task at hand was to produce Nightshine, a celebration that would reflect the brilliance Pollak exhibits as a businessman, a family man and dedicated philanthropist.
The foundation’s executive director, Paula Herzmark, huddled with board chairman Josh Hanfling and event planner Candice Jones to assemble a leadership team made up of some of Pollak’s closest friends: Lee and Debbie Alpert, Steve and Faye Demby, Steve and Cindy Farber, Gary and Connie Levine, Jimmy and Debbie Lustig, Brent and Julie Morse, David and Ricki Rest, Franklin and Jennifer Rios, Rick and Shelly Sapkin, and Michael and Iris Smith.
Then they decided on a headliner for the minimum $500-a-ticket event at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center. It would be hiphop artist Flo Rida, whose Denver fan base exploded in 2016 when he performed the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 victory song, “I Told You So.”
Flo Rida, with 80 million digital downloads and some 50 music awards and nominations to his credit, proved to be a terrific choice. His infectious sound brought the audience to its feet — and kept the dance floor filled until the last song was sung.
Pollak, a past chairman of the Denver Health Foundation board and host of an annual Men’s Night Out that raises money for men’s health initiatives, also is the founder of Diamonds in the Rough, a golf tournament and dinner that has raised $2.5 million for 50 charitable organizations serving at-risk youth.
In 2016, he and his wife, Shereen, received the Anti-defamation League’s Community Impact Award for their broad-based philanthropy.
A video tribute to Pollak included congratulations from his poker buddy, Gov. John Hickenlooper; his friend of 40 years, Larry Mizel; Pollak’s son Jordan and daughter Jenni; and Herzmark, who described the honoree as “an exceptional person; someone who thinks strategically.”
Wellington Webb, Denver’s former mayor and the man for whom the award is named, congratulated Pollak on his charitable deeds by noting: “If it’s a great cause, Michael is there.”
During the social hour that preceded dinner, the Pollaks were the surrounded by friends extending congratulations: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock; Rus Heise, chairman of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority; Alice Jackson, president of Xcel Energy-colorado, which sponsored the Nightshine after-party; Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld; Evan and Evi Makovsky; Walter and Christie Isenberg; AEG Live president Chuck Morris and his wife, Becky; and Jean and Dr. Ben Galloway, to name just a few.
Nightshine also was the occasion for Denver Health to recognize the 30 years that its school-based health centers have provided care to youngsters in 17 Denver Public Schools. Services include basic health care, mental health support and programs to combat adolescent addiction.
Steve Rosdal, Pollak’s former business partner, was among the 1,600 guests; so, too, was Don Elliman, chancellor of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; state Reps. Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Jovan Melton; Haroun and Toshia Cowans; Rollie Jordan with son Rhett; attorney KC Veio, a new member of the Denver Health Foundation board, and Ryan Orlovsky; Ryan Ross, president/ceo of the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, and his wife, Simone, director of strategic business initiatives at SCL Health; Michelle Sie Whitten, president/ceo of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, with her son, Patrick; the evening’s Starlight chairmen, Sterling and Kristi Crowe and Elizabeth Peros; and Mike Ferrufino, Dr. Fernando Kim, Charlie Walling and Dr. Tom Mackenzie, who served on the Nightshine corporate committee.
Also, Robin Wittenstein, Denver Health’s chief executive; pediatrician Sonja O’leary; Deborah Jordy, who heads the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District; Dr. Chris Thurstone and his wife, Christine Tatum; Anne Warhover, chairwoman-elect of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority board; Michelle Lucero, chief administrative officer and general counsel for Children’s Hospital Colorado; auctioneer Reggie Rivers; and Les Shapiro and Lauren Whitney, the masters of ceremony.