On Monday, March 8, 2010, Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and Ted Allen of Food Network’s Chopped hosted Savor, GMHC’s annual culinary fundraiser at Gotham Hall. The glamorous evening began with cocktails and a silent auction, followed by a decadent four-course dinner and Passing the Whisk: a fast-paced, culinary relay featuring the star-chef judges from Food Network’s Chopped. Participating chefs included: Amanda Freitag of The Harrison, Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter, Marc Murphy of Landmarc, Aaron Sanchez of Paladar, Chris Santos of Stanton Social and Geoffrey Zakarian of The Lambs Club.
Some of New York’s most high-profile names in theatre, philanthropy and the culinary world stepped out to support the evening’s honorees and long-time GMHC supporters, Dr. Yvette C. Burton, Senior Global Business Development Executive for IBM, and philanthropist and theatrical producer, Ted Snowdon, for their ongoing dedication to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
More than 480 guests attended raising nearly $500,000 in support of GMHC’s care services and HIV prevention and advocacy efforts. Approximately 75% of GMHC’s clients live at poverty level. The Meals Program addresses hunger by providing nutritious meals to thousands of low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS every year. GMHC also offers nutritional counseling and bags of groceries through its food pantry for its clients in need. After topping off their meals with delicious Country Chocolate Tarts, guests departed with a cookbook of recipes from the evening’s chefs and other GMHC supporters including: Bethenny Frankel, Tim Gunn, Liz Smith and Joan Tisch.
About GMHC: Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. We provide prevention, treatment and care services to more than 15,000 men, women and families that are living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS in New York City, and advocate for scientific, evidence-based public health solutions for hundreds of thousands worldwide. GMHC’s mission is to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. For further information, visit www.gmhc.org
Liz,
It was a treat seeing you last Monday. To be honest, nothing I asked was too much. I didn’t even expect the support around the food demo that was given from GP. So thank you, because while I love food, I know nothing about it…your expertise was key to my success. You made me look good.
The chefs felt really comfortable about your involvement. They sang your praises to all the chefs….It made the night stress-less to know they felt in good hands. This is a far cry from where we landed last year, so thank you for seeing that it all came together seamlessly and without incident.
I thought it important to let you know that Josh was a dream. Every question was answered with yes. I like that. He is by far the best manager I have seen on your team. He knows food, food service and most importantly good customer service. Please give that man a bonus, raise or something, and keep him on your team, because I want him on my project next year.
Great Performances was really good to us, so thank you. Everything you did helped us get this event back to the ½ million mark in an horrible economy.
Thank you Liz.
Kenneth R. Cox
Director, Special Events
GMHC
119 West 24th
NY, NY 10011