ML - Vegas Magazine

2013 - Issue 3 - May/June

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/124284

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 75 of 175

SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY Charity Regist er OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE. LADYBUG BALL Event: Kim and Dana Wagner from KSNV's Wake Up with the Wagners host the Nevada Blind Children's Foundation benefit, which will consist of a silent auction, live entertainment, cocktails, and dinner prepared by celebrity chefs, including Bradley Ogden (PICTURED) and Angelo Sosa. 74 Details: May 4, Aria Resort & Casino; nvblindchildren.org BE THE CHANGE Event: Olive Crest has supported abandoned and abused children for 40 years. Join the Olive Crest family in aiding that mission at an evening featuring cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, auctions, and entertainment. Details: May 11, private estate in Henderson; olivecrest.org GIRLS NIGHT OUT Event: Hosted by Fox5's Jason Feinberg (PICTURED), this event will feature cocktails, food, a performance by Zowie Bowie, and silent and live auctions with Christian Kolberg. Proceeds benefit The Shade Tree, which provides shelter and assistance for women and children who have been victims of domestic violence. Details: May 16, The Act at The Palazzo; friendsoftheshadetree.net THE HEART BALL Event: Join the American Heart Association for a night of inspiration, entertainment, and giving. The funds raised from this event will benefit patients across the country. The 2013 Heart Ball honoree is Dr. Flip Homansky. Details: May 18, Paris Las Vegas; lvheartball.org FACETS OF HOPE DINNER Event: Jewelers for Children raises money through jewelry donations to support children affected by illness, abuse, or neglect. This dinner and auction benefits its Legacy Charity partners: St. Jude Children's Hospital, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. This year's honorees are Bea Spiech of Macy's and Efraim Grinberg (PICTURED) of Movado Group. Details: June 2, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino; jewelersforchildren.org RIBBON OF LIFE Event: Golden Rainbow, a local nonprofit HIV/AIDS financial assistance organization, will hold its 27th annual Ribbon of Life fundraising event at The Smith Center. The night will include performances by local entertainers. Details: June 30, Smith Center; goldenrainbow.org PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATE LUDENS (FIELD); CRAIG BARRITT/GETTY IMAGES (GRINBERG); DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE (FEINBERG); ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES FOR VEGAS UNCORK'D BY BON APPÉTIT (OGDEN); GINA GAVAN (GAVAN AND MCCLURE) continued from page 72 where they have dinner at 6 PM. I wanted for her what I didn't have. LEFT: Gavan with daughter Avery The whole Project Dinner Table experiMcClure. RIGHT: The ence takes about five hours. The dinner table 12th Project Dinner Table took place at is up to 200 feet long, and the environments Cashman Field in 2011. are magical. We bring in volunteers, tie in a nonprofit gift-giving component, and then get chefs out beyond their four walls to make dinner. It's kind of guerrilla-style because they don't have all the conveniences they have in their kitchens. We don't do tons of staging or spend excess money, but the places we choose to hold the events are adventurous. We have taken over Cashman Field, where we had a very long dinner table along the baselines. We've been on Jackie Gaughan Parkway downtown, in Town Square, and at the Natural History Museum and adjacent Heritage Park. We have new locations this year: Tivoli Village, the TPC Summerlin golf course. The season kicked off in April at the Neon Museum. What better way to solve problems or connect with new people than to break bread around the dinner table? It's pretty amazing to see this table after you finish setting it and 200 people start herding in to find their seats. The table is only two and a half feet wide, so it's very intimate. To date, we've given back to The Shade Tree, Safe Nest, HELP of Southern Nevada, Communities in Schools, Through the Eyes of a Child Foundation, Three Square…. The gifts aren't large, and that's where I'd like to see us moving the needle. There are more opportunities to keep those gifts growing, and each year we've upped the ante. Managing Project Dinner Table is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's definitely worth it. Everywhere I go somebody says something, or people send me e-mails about it. Everyone else's love for and connection with Project Dinner Table continues to fuel me, but it needs to become sustainable. This is something I've chosen to do on the side, but now it requires a full staff. The hardest lessons I've learned are that you can't help others if they don't want to help themselves, and that you can't give more than you receive. If people walk away from Project Dinner Table feeling more connected, more love for their community and its safety-net system, or they fall in love with somebody at the table, whether that's a friendship or something else, that means a lot to me. The Project Dinner Table event on May 18 benefits Golden Rainbow and the Women in Need Court. Proceeds from the June 29 event go to The First Tee of Southern Nevada and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. For locations and more information, visit projectdinnertable.com V VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 072-074_V_SP_SofG_MAY-JUNE_13.indd 74 4/19/13 4:44 PM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of ML - Vegas Magazine - 2013 - Issue 3 - May/June