ML - Vegas Magazine

2012 - Issue 6 - October

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.

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SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY continued from page 56 Foundation gave $50 million to help build the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center. The team at BCRF greeted the news of Lauder's involvement with considerable relief, if not outright joy. Myra Biblowit, pres- ident of BCRF, explains, "To have Leonard say, 'I'm going to step in because I want this organization to continue to flourish and not miss a beat'—that has been an invaluable reassurance about the future of an organization that has lost its founder." And who better than Leonard Lauder to grow BCRF? One of America's most successful CEOs, Lauder took his family's cosmetic firm to its current status as a multibillion- dollar global behemoth. (It had nearly $9 billion in net sales in the last fiscal year.) In addition to Lauder's business prow- ess, there's also his much-vaunted talent for relationship building. "Leonard brings to the table his extraordinary insights about people," says Dr. Larry Norton, scientific director of BCRF's scientific advisory board and deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. "He understands what makes them tick. That translates into the magic of BCRF. It's not about science; it's about people doing science. If you support their enthusiasm and creativity, the projects will come." Already Lauder has expanded the BCRF board, bringing in such names as Tory Burch and Ed Brennan, the chairman of DFS Group. To broaden its scope, he's also defined a dual agenda for BCRF: "To embrace the new reality of cancer research and expand the fundraising footprint." The new reality of cancer research is how scientists are coming to see cancer as a genetic disease rather than a disease of the breast, colon, lung, or other organ. "Genetic aberrations are in a sense the hub of the wheel," Biblowit says. "Ultimately, solutions will have application to all of the spokes." This interconnectedness is what ensures BCRF's relevance even in a time when many types of breast cancer are curable or manageable. Biblowit says that what stands between disease and a cure today "is not technology or talent, but money. The intellectual capital is in place; the missing link is the financial resources." Dr. Norton offers some sobering facts: 23 percent of American deaths this year will be from cancer, yet studies indicate that the US spends six times more on soft drinks than on all cancer research combined. "If we didn't have philanthropy, we'd be [at a tremendous loss]," Dr. Norton says, "because in order to qualify for fed- eral grants, you need to demonstrate preliminary results, and in order to do the work to get those results, you need philanthropy." Eleven years ago, BCRF awarded $8.5 million to support 50 researchers around the US; this year the group raised $53 million and is funding more than 190 researchers in 13 countries, according to Biblowit. No matter how ambitious the goals for BCRF, Lauder, at 79, seems primed to meet them. His schedule hasn't slowed down much from when he was run- ning the Lauder companies as CEO: "I get up at 6:30 AM every day, exercise, then sit down to a business breakfast by 7:30 or get to my office by 8," he says. His workdays are a tightly choreographed sequence of meetings, phone calls, power lunches, and more meetings. He travels regularly—recent continued on page 60 58 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM FUND THE FIGHT MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER Event: Join the 5K walk for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, supporting the American Cancer Society. Details: October 6, JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa; makingstrides.acsevents.org THE PINK TEE Event: Golfing goes pink with a charitable event hosted by Southern Highlands Charitable Foundation and MJ Christensen Diamonds. Proceeds go to Komen Southern Nevada and St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. Details: October 9, Southern Highlands Golf Club; komensouthernnevada.org ROSE REGATTA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL Event: Row your boat (or just spectate) at the fourth annual event to benefit St. Rose Dominican Hospitals' breast cancer services. Details: October 13, Lake Las Vegas; strosehospitals.org PINKTOBER Event: Eighties band Bananarama's 30th anniversary tour stops in Las Vegas for a benefit concert to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer in a partnership with Hard Rock International. Details: October 15, Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip; hardrock.com/ lasvegas BLOW OUT BREAST CANCER Event: Salon services, and a silent auction, at Square Color Salon + Spa will raise funds for Smiles for Survivors, which provides breast cancer patients and survivors with necessary dental care. Details: October 20, Square Colour Salon + Spa; smilesforsurvivors.org Generations of the Lauder family: Leonard with sons Gary and William and Gary's wife, Laura. "I am absolutely dedicated to Evelyn's dream of curing and preventing breast cancer. " Oscar Goodman (CENTER) presented Evelyn and Leonard Lauder with keys to the city of Las Vegas in 2004. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE SKARRATT (LAUDER); LAS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU (KEY TO THE CITY)

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