AIF Gala Raises $ 1. 5 million
Adi & Parmeshwar Godrej, Robert A McDonald, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO of the Proctor & Gamble Company, Richard Gere, Salman Rushdie & Karan Johar were the stars…
If brainpower, great looks, accomplishments and sheer good intentions could be harnessed for solar energy, then you’d have quite a surplus at the AIF Awards Spring Gala held in the grand ballroom of Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel.
A quick glance of the crowded cocktail circuit and you spotted famous faces including Adi and Parmeshwar Godrej, Salman Rushdie, Richard Gere, Karan Johar and Madhur Jaffrey mingling with the brightest and most powerful of New York’s Indian-American corporate czars and entrepreneurs. Just the bold face names would have been enough to cause a surge in the NASDAQ numbers!
The American India Foundation (AIF) whose honorary chair is President Bill Clinton, has some of the most noted names in the business and financial worlds as supporters, so it was a gathering of movers and shakers. The awards gala honored Robert A McDonald, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of the Proctor & Gamble Company, as well as Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Industries.
There was also a special Leadership in Philanthropy Award presented to the charismatic Parmeshwar Godrej for all her dedicated work. She shared the award with Richard Gere and Karan Johar for their leadership of the Heroes Project, which has raised awareness of HIV/AIDS in India.
The evening featured an innovative menu designed by celebrity chef Floyd Cardoz, the executive chef and managing partner at Tabla, and a very energized auction of AIF sponsorships by Christie’s savvy auctioneer, Hugo Weihe who is reputed to have got in the winning bids on the most expensive Indian art in the world.
No surprise that $ 1.5 million was raised in that one evening. And indeed, that brings us to the real reason for the gala – AIF’s mission to accelerate social and economic change in India. The funds will be utilized for AIF’s programs, including the Learning and Migration Program (LAMP), which educates children in high migration areas in rural India, allowing them to stay in their home villages in seasonal hostels while their parents migrate to work. Now that’s a happy ending to a power evening.
(C) Lavina Melwani
(This article first appeared in Hi! Blitz magazine)
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