The food just kept coming-dishes full of pasta, potatoes and lamb-at Gabriel’s restaurant in Highwood, where about 100 people gathered last weekend for an “angel party” sponsored by Deerfield’s Center for Enriched Living (CEL).
“The idea for this party started five or six years ago as a way of acknowledging people and what they’ve done for us,” said Leonard Klein, president of the center. “It’s a function of recognition of people who support the center above and beyond the call of duty.”
Those at the party, a prelude to a May 7 auction at which CEL officials expect to raise about $200,000 for the organization, are among the center’s major financial contributors, said Lynne Albanese, executive director.
The “angel party” itself raised about $30,000 for the center, a 25-year-old agency that provides social and educational programs for retarded people from all over the Chicago area, said center spokeswoman Darcy Gans.
While the guests dined and chatted, officials of the center talked about the big auction.
“Last year we had a lot of trips, restaurant (meals), autographs, sports paraphernalia. We really had a wide variety of items,” said Matt Curley, an auction chairman and one of the vice presidents of the board, adding that he expects this year’s list of items to be even more impressive.
The din of conversation mingled with the music of Michelle Greenberg and Swinging Business, an Evanston trio, as the merriment continued.
Daryl Rubin of Vernon Hills, the center’s director of special events, said the gala event had evolved from its beginnings as a cocktail party. “Every year we want to make it more special for people, more elegant for people, make it the place to be.”
