The music was enough reason to go. Performances by Dennis De Young of Styx fame as well as by the City Lights Orchestra punctuated the tributes with such uplifting music you thought you were at a concert rather than the Ronald McDonald House Charities Awards of Excellence dinner Saturday at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel.
But there were other high points. Singer Harry Belafonte received the 2000 Award of Excellence from Ronald McDonald House Charities for his humanitarian achievements with Unicef.
“I’ve been told there are 2,000 people of influence in this room” said Belafonte in his acceptance speech, proceeding to enlist their help in the fight against AIDS and other diseases in underdeveloped areas such as Africa and the Caribbean.
About the worldwide AIDS crisis Belafonte said, “There are 34 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS, 20 million of whom live in Africa. This year, it is estimated that there are some 15 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who have been affected by HIV/AIDS — meaning that they have been orphaned by the disease or that they are HIV positive themselves, or both. Fifteen million. . . . “In the words of my friend Nelson Mandela, something must be done with the greatest urgency.”
$100,000 was presented to Belafonte to start the Harry and Julie Belafonte Fund for HIV/AIDS In Africa.
Another 2000 Award of Excellence was presented to Francois Gosse, a French doctor who in 1982 joined the Expanded Programme of Immunization at the World Health Organization to provide crucial tetanus immunizations to women and children.
He, too, was awarded $100,000 by the charities which he will contribute to the U.S. Fund for Unicef to assist it in meeting its goal of immunizing every woman and child in Somalia and Sudan against the threat of tetanus.
Gary Granader, owner and operator of seven McDonald’s restaurants, received the 2000 Gerry Newman McTLC Award for his work with children.
Granader founded the multiple school district science fair, which he continues to support. Winners of the fair get to attend NASA’s Space Camp program in Alabama. Granader was awarded $25,000, which he passed along to his parents, Sylvia and Harry Granader, who established Camp Make-A-Dream in Montana for children with cancer.
The dinner was co-chaired by Herbert Lotman, chairman and CEO of Keystone Foods Corp., and Theodore F. Perlman, chairman and CEO of The Havi Group. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, East Balt Commissary, The Havi Group, Keystone Foods Corp. and United Airlines, the evening also featured a silent and live auction.
Tickets ranged from $400-660. Proceeds of $1.7 million were raised.
Just in time for Halloween, Tuesday’s Child held Le Bal Masque de Millennium (the Masquerade Ball of the Century), Saturday at the Hotel Sofitel in Rosemont. Tuesday’s Child was founded 20 years ago by Katherine Augustyn and Dr. Victoria Lavigne. The organization helps parents build positive relationships with their children and focuses on helping children who are at risk for failure to prepare for entry into school.
Le Bal Masque, co-sponsored by Tuesday’s Child and WGN-TV Children’s Charities and chaired by Joanne Broniarczyk, raised approximately $50,000.
———-
Please submit items in writing three weeks in advance to The Chicago Tribune, Places,Parties,People, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.
