Five young ambassadors stood ready to shake hands with about 600 people as they arrived at the annual JDRF Imagine Gala to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes, a condition that affects them.
The Imagine Gala, held April 27 in the Statehouse Convention Center Ballroom, raised about $515,000 to support research into the condition that affects more than 26 million Americans and costs more than $174 billion each year in healthcare bills. JDRF was formerly known as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Melanie and Jeff Fox were presented with the 2013 JDRF Living and Giving Award for their support of the organization. Dana and Scott Daniel and Mary Ann and Wayne Moore were co-chairmen of the event.
White flowers decorated tables in the ballroom where guests dined on roasted chicken with puttanesca sauce, sauteed zucchini, rosemary roasted butternut squash and roasted tricolor potatoes.
The young ambassadors and a few others starred in a Fund a Cure video and afterward they handed gifts they made themselves to winners of live auction items, including a six-night stay for up to six people at Walt Disney World’s new Art of Animation Resort, a visit for two with Steve “Wild Man” Wilson to the den of an Arkansas black bear and her cubs during hibernation, a Blake Shelton-autographed guitar, a party for 50 at the home of Dr. David and Renay Dean, and a two-night stay in Rosemary Inn in Santa Rosa, Fla.
Guests ended the evening by dancing to music by The Rockets.
High Profile, Pages 41 on 05/05/2013