Chabad’s Children Of Chernobyl A Call From The Heart Gala Dinner

Nov. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- CHABAD’S CHILDREN OF CHERNOBYL INVITES YOU TO ANSWER “A CALL FROM THE HEART” AND ATTEND ITS GALA DINNER & CELEBRITY FANTASY AUCTION

The evening will be hosted by Jon Voight. WNBC-TV’s Lead Sports Anchor, Bruce Beck, is the Auctioneer Par Excellence.

This year’s honorees are: Gale Epstein and Lida Orzeck of Hanky Panky with the “Beyond the Call” Award, Lawrence B. Benenson of Benenson Capital Partners, LLC with the Humanitarian Award, and Debby Tabacinic Aqua with the New Leadership Award.

*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GALA LOCATION HAS CHANGED DUE TO THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF HURRICANE SANDY ON PIER SIXTY.

THE NEW VENUE FOR CHILDREN AT HEART IS THE GRAND HYATT NEW YORK
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012
5:00 PM
Grand Hyatt New York
109 East 42nd Street NYC

The Children at Heart benefit gala will begin at 5pm with red carpet celebrity arrivals followed by an exclusive cocktail reception and dinner. For more information and tickets, visit www.cah.net.

To date, CCOC has saved 2,835 children on 98 rescue flights, airlifting them from Chernobyl to Israel to escape the contaminated living conditions caused by the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor explosion. The theme of this year's event celebrates "A Call from the Heart”.

Last year’s gala raised more than $2 million to save the Children of Chernobyl. This holiday season, celebrities and New York’s elite have once again committed to this cause in full force, donating time, money, and auction items.  Confirmed fantasy auction items include a 5-night stay at Hotels & Resorts of Halekulani in Hawaii with first class roundtrip tickets on Hawaiian Airlines, diamond heart earrings created exclusively for the event, artwork by artist Mark Kostabi (who will also be in attendance), a scotch and cigars package, and much more.

This year, Kurrenci – a revolutionary digital money start-up—is partnering with CCOC to leverage all donations made at the dinner at a rate of 1.18. Based on Kurrenci's unique exchange rate mechanism, for each dollar donated, Kurrenci is adding 18 cents; because 'New Money' is worth more!
Founded in response to the devastating nuclear disaster in 1986, Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl (CCOC) is a not-for-profit organization that evacuates children from the radioactive Chernobyl region. CCOC provides them with critical medical care, new homes and an excellent education in Israel. CCOC also serves those currently living in the contaminated areas by providing medicine and advanced medical equipment.

CCOC is the only organization in the world that permanently evacuates and treats children who suffer from cancer, “Chernobyl AIDS”, crippling birth defects, and other debilitating illnesses as a result of their exposure to the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. CCOC  has currently saved 2,835 children on 98 rescue flights providing all of these children with vital needs such as extensive medical treatment, food, housing, education and additional living expenses.

Every year CCOC hosts the Children at Heart Gala Dinner and Celebrity Fantasy Auction with the goal of raising the funds necessary to rescue the children who are currently living in the contaminated zones. This year’s event is scheduled for Monday, November 19, 2012 at NYC’s Grand Hyatt. Nancy Spielberg and Jon Voight both serve as the Children at Heart Event Chairman, and the event itself draws a number of celebrities and members of the Hollywood community. At last year’s event, Kirk Douglas accepted the “Children at Heart” Award as presented by his son Michael Douglas, and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dakota and Elle Fanning also joined for what was a very special evening.

Celebrity partners and past honorees include Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Piven, Jesse Eisenberg, Kiefer Sutherland, Kelsey Grammer, Judge Judy Sheindlin, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Pierce Brosnan and more.

Host Committee

Woody Allen  Ernie Anastos  Tracy Austin  Renaldo Balkman  Antonio Banderas  Joy Behar  Jason Binn  Jacqueline Bisset Leon Black  Michael Bolton  Lorraine Bracco  Matthew Broderick  Edgar Bronfman  Roscoe Lee Browne  Ellen Burstyn Kate Burton  Amy Carlson  Dominic Chianese  Christo & Jeanne-Claude  Fay Grant & Stephen Collins  Bob Costas  Tom Cruise Rhea Pearlman & Danny DeVito  Charles Durning  Hallie Kate Eisenberg  Tina Fey  Peter Gallagher  James Gandolfini Elliott Gould  Melanie Griffith  Charles Grodin  Steve Guttenberg  Melissa Joan Hart  Lisa & Dustin Hoffman  Michael Imperioli Bianca Jagger  Kevin James  Shirley Jones  Harvey Keitel  Margot Kidder  Heidi Klum  Bonnie Comley & Stewart F. Lane Felicia Lemmon  Tina Louise  Howie Mandel  Maureen McGovern  Jane Meadows  Sam Mendes  Marilyn Michaels Julianne Michelle  Bette Midler  Matthew Modine  Alexandra Nechita  James Nederlander Jr.  LeRoy Neiman  Mandy Patinkin Jane Pauley  Bernadette Peters  Jeremy Piven  Sally Jessy Raphael  Tara Reid  Rob Reiner  Denise Rich  Campbell Scott Jerry Seinfeld  John Shea  Martin Short  Carly Simon  Jean Stapleton  Elie Tahari  Christine Taylor & Ben Stiller  Marisa Tomei Kaity Tong  Joe Torre  Diane Von Furstenberg  Gene Wilder  Elizabeth Williams  Montel Williams  Joanne Woodward

Honorary Committee
Congressman Gary Ackerman
Hon. Frank L. Lautenberg
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman
Congressman Jerrold Nadler
Senator Charles E. Schumer

Honorary Dinner Chairs
Leah Adler
Jane & Ishaia Gol
Geraldine & Martin Hoffman
Pamela & George Rohr
Lori Schottenstein
Rose & Simeon Schreiber

International Honorary Chairs
Endy Dain Gerry Werthein
Camille Dan
Adrianne & Clive Marks
Martin Schlaff
Rudolfine & Susanna Steindling
Adrian Werthein

Benefit Committee
Ron Ansin  Carol Archer  Doug Book  Scott Book  Michael Broidy  Arlene Buraczynski  Jamie & Ricky Cohen  Shoshana & Kenneth Dichter Barbara & Abe Esses  Suzie Finkelstein  Charles Freiberger  Eugene Grant  Crystal Green  Cheryl & Fred Halpern  Peter Kash Marie Jose & Henry Kravis  Philippe Laub  Phyllis Lee  Rosalynn & Sam Malamud  Anita Mann Kohl  Jamie Masada  Beth & Josh Nash Helen Nash  Tobi Rubinstein Schneier  Ilene & Steven Sands  Mindy Schall  Joy & Michael Volk  Barron Wall  Barbara Zimet

Auction Chairs
Joycelyn Engle
Leslie Leventman
Elke & Moshe Malamud
Brian Mehling
Julianne Michelle

Celebrity Chairs
Billy Crystal
Matt Damon
Kirk Douglas
Michael Douglas
Jesse Eisenberg
Edie Falco
Dakota & Elle Fanning
Whoopi Goldberg
Judges Judy & Jerry Sheindlin
Catherine Zeta-Jones