Honorary Heartworks chairperson Mayor Michael Bloomberg with NMF president and CEO Carolyn Levering.
2008 Hero with a Heart Award recipients Hal Dietz, MD, and Ron Smith, PhD, representing Merck & Co.
The National
Marfan Foundation (NMF) celebrated another successful
fundraiser with its annual event, Heartworks: The Marfan Gala,
raising $1 million to support the Foundations programs for those
affected with Marfan syndrome and related connective tissue disorders.
Heartworks was held on April 17 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New
York.
A special Fund-A-Need call to action raised funds for the NMF initiatives
for children and teens. During this Fund-A- Need, NBC-TV's Hoda
Kotb, the master of ceremonies, was joined on-stage by NMF
members, Emily Wheeler, 23, and Michelle Smith,
16, who shared their personal experiences while asking for support.
Drew Rayman—brother of NMF Board Member and Heartworks
Corporate host Karen Murray—pledged $50,000 to kick-off
the appeal and challenged the gala audience to meet his donation. As a result,
an additional $43,000 was raised.
Luminaries from business and industry, theater and fashion, media and
medicine were on-hand as the NMF honored two notable recipients with
a Hero with a Heart Award for their outstanding contributions to the
Marfan community: Dr. Hal Dietz, III, Victor A. McKusick
Professor of Medicine and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine and the director of the William S. Smilow Center for Marfan
Syndrome Research and worldwide pharmaceutical leader Merck & Company.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Heartworks
Honorary chair for the past six years and a consistent presence at
the gala, presented Dr. Dietz with his Hero with a Heart Award. Mayor
Bloomberg's powerful comments demonstrate year after year that
New York certainly has a heart for the Marfan community.
Dr. Antonio Gotto, Jr., Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Medical
College of Cornell University and 2007 Hero with a Heart Award recipient, presented
the award to Ron Smith, MD, who represented Merck & Co.
The success of the evening was due in large part to Heartworks Dinner
chairs Ben Carpenter, vice chairman, RBS Greenwich
Capital; Dr. Gotto; Randy Falco, chairman and CEO
of AOL LLC; Susan Falco, NMF Board member; Ann
Reinking, Tony Award-winning choreographer and Broadway star;
and Dr. Victor McKusick, University Professor of Medicine
and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The Foundation is also grateful to the Gala Committee, including NMF
Board members Steve Crombe and Joseph R. Gagliano,
Jr., for their commitment to the success of Heartworks.
NMF Board member and Heartworks Corporate host Karen Murray; Harry C. Dietz, III, MD; Carolyn Levering; and NBC-TV Hoda Kotb, who was master of ceremonies.
Film producer Brenda Seimer Scheider and actor Bebe Neuwirth.
Dr. Duke Cameron, Johns Hopkins Hospital and NMF Professional Advisory Board member with NMF Board member Susan Falco, her husband Randy Falco, and their daughter Jessica.
Dr. Antonio Gotto, Jr. (center), with Michael Weamer, EVP, and Nancy Brown, chief administrative officer, American Heart Association.
Tony and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Holliday entertained the guests.
