New York City Gala Raises $2.1 Million in Single Evening

On October 25, about 500 of New York City’s corporate leaders and social VIPs gathered at Cipriani Wall Street for the Greater New York Chapter-Manhattan Office’s third annual A Matter of Life and Breath to benefit the CF Foundation. 

When Rosie O’Donnell, moderator of ABC’s The View, and Lisa Karlin, senior broadcast correspondent for PEOPLE magazine and CBS radio, came on stage to kick-start the evening’s activities, guests knew they would be guaranteed a fun night of laughter and friendship.

As co-emcees for the night, O’Donnell and Karlin motivated guests to raise money for CF research and care. Spurred into action by O’Donnell’s moving Bid for a Cure speech, supporters Tom and Ginny Hughes and Tim and Cosby George, each offered $100,000 matching donations. In a matter of minutes, the Bid for a Cure —topped off with a $100,000 donation from O’Donnell herself—raised $550,000.

At the gala, the chapter also recognized honorees Kelly Martin, President and CEO of the Elan Corporation, plc, and his wife Elizabeth, for their generosity and dedication to the Foundation. The Martins joined other guests to participate in the silent auction, in which one-of-kind items up for bid included a round of golf with Houston Astro’s baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and a trip to the Antarctic with the crew of CBS’s 60 Minutes.

A Matter of Life and Breath was an astounding success, and, by the end of the night, raised a record-breaking $2.1 million.