HGTV’S Yip at event for UNICEF Sunday

Atlanta interior designer Vern Yip is best known for critiquing color palettes, layouts and furniture selections as a judge on “HGTV Design Star.”

But his heart is with his two young adopted children and his role as a UNICEF ambassador. He’s helped organize a fundraiser in Atlanta this Sunday at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Along with event chair Rebecca Gupta and founding co-chair John Terracino, Yip will be a host at the UNICEF Experience, an interactive event that gives guests a taste of what children in more than 150 developing countries deal with every day. Besides UNICEF programs that improve water, sanitation, education and health for the kids, the experience will feature a “digital drum,” a solar-powered device that provides Internet connections in remote places.

“I have such a wonderful life,” said Yip. “I get to take my kids with me when I travel. I get them up in the mornings and don’t have to stress about health or food or water. I realize that’s such a luxury we take for granted.”

Last year’s event at Lenox Square raised more than $500,000. “We got such a great response from people who never really knew what UNICEF did,” he said, adding that the charity has helped reduce an estimated 21,000 to 26,000 deaths daily worldwide.

The longest-running judge on “HGTV Design Star,” Yip, 43, has been there since Season 1. Season 7, which was taped this year in Los Angeles, will start airing in May. He is also putting together several collections for HSN under his name, including items such as upholstered squares that could be turned into a headboard and a lamp with internal storage. “I like things that are solution-oriented and have a lot of built-in design value,” he said.

Tickets to Sunday’s fundraiser start at $250. Call 404-881-2700, Ext. 300, or see www.unicefusa.org for details about purchasing tickets.

Hayes (left) and Garth

Jennie Garth (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) will play an Atlanta assistant district attorney in a Lifetime Movie Network film based on Atlanta talk show host Nancy Grace’s “The Eleventh Victim” novel, according to Deadline.com.

“The Eleventh Hour” includes elements from Grace’s life — she worked as a special prosecutor in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.

Hailey Dean (Garth) is a young psychology student whose fiancé is murdered just weeks before her wedding, which is similar to what happened to Grace. Dean later becomes a prosecutor.

Grace, who hosts a show on HLN, will be one of the executive producers. taurant Group. The eatery will be managed by Levy Restaurants, which handles the arena’s other concessions.

The name of the 10,000square-foot Red, while a small nod to one of the Hawks’ team colors, was chosen for more basic reasons — the reaction the color promotes.

“It speaks to the experience of why people get together and break bread and enjoy a dining experience, whether it’s at a concert or sporting event. People want to emotionally connect and have fun and suspend whatever they’re dealing with for the day, and at the end of the day if you just said, ‘red,’ it evokes something — emotion, passion,” said David Lee, vice president of corporate partnerships and business developments for the Hawks and Philips Arena.

To create the 250-person capacity Red, between sections 203 and 205 in a space expanded from the old Headlines bar, a few rows of seats were removed — the arena declined to cite specific numbers — but the result is terraced-seating with nary an obstructed view. Rows of flat-screen TVS also ring the inside of the eatery, so even if you miss a shot live, you can catch it on TV.

While Red, designed by Atlanta’s the Johnson Studio, will be open throughout Hawks and WNBA games — as well as 90 minutes before and for a time after games — it will also operate at concerts and other events, but perhaps on a modified schedule.

“The production of concerts might depend on if the artist will allow it to operate [during the show],” Lee said. A curtain will likely be drawn across the area during concerts so noise and lighting won’t be distracting, but after an event, Red will rock again.

“Right after a show, people’s adrenaline is running high, so maybe you don’t want to leave yet,” Lee said, then added, “I think this makes our building feel new and different.” “It creates a spirit of, ‘What’s next?’ ”