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Mystery ‘Fly Spy in action at the Human Rights Campaign bash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Y’all, I can’t be everywhere, but luckily the Butterfly counts a number of fabsters among her colleagues. Chief among them is today’s mystery correspondent, who sends this missive from Saturday’s Human Rights Campaign dinner.
The 21st annual HRC dinner, at the Hyatt Regency downtown, promised to be fabulous if only for the keynote speech by actress and activist Kathy (“Sister Act”) Najimy, who delivered with a series of “what-if-gays-ran-the-world?” moments. (No hate crimes and Ellen for President were two favorites.)
Co-chairs for the event were Jason Lowery and Ebonee Bradford, who attended with their respective partners, Jon Woody and Denetra Mayfield. Bradford was particularly stunning in a scarlet halter gown and headpiece, custom made for the occasion.
Key committee members included LeeAnn Jones, Chip York, Chuck Stephens, Denetra Mayfield, Chris Vazquez, Brad Willard, Jeremy Jones, Chad Spurlin, Ronane Toomsen, Ashley Mahaffey and Ravi Batra.
Also, Glen Paul Freedman, Julie Wood, Chris Doyle, Dana Williams, David Fritsch, Trinh Huynh and Kevin Knight.
The crowd applauded heartily for political types including U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders and honorees Dennis A. Meredith, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, and Frank Bragg, director of communication for Metrotainment Cafes.
But the evening’s star surely was Jordan Brooks, a 16-year-old transgendered youth from Roswell. Brooks sashayed onto the stage in a stunning strapless gown to read her winning YouthPride essay on being beaten and bullied.
Still, with mother Kathy Brooks and friend Justin Dean along for support, she was upbeat: “It’s been a long and difficult road to becoming this fierce,” she said with a 360-degree finger snap and a toss of her hair.
This book club’s been busy
The Butterfly’s wingspan reaches Henry County this week, where members of the Eclectic 11M book club were so moved by Three Cups of Tea, detailing Greg Mortenson’s quest to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, that they decided to organize a fund-raiser.
Liz Bantley played host for the April 29 affair, a book sale and a book swap featuring a light supper and cocktails. Admission was a $25 donation to Central Asia Institute Mission, providing education and literacy programs in remote mountain regions of Central Asia. The ladies let it be known they would gladly accept additional generosity, and from a crowd of about 70, raised some $12,000.
You read that right: a book club in Henry County raised $12K. S.B.’s in two book clubs. We’ve got to get busy.
EE clubbers include Susan Baker, Lisa Evans, Jackie Fields, Sue Harden, Janet Ivarie, Emilie Khair, Diane Lanio, Sara Lithgow, Diana Pennington and Ruth Rucker.
Going…going…gone?
Pretty much any charity event in town, from casual community wine tastings to swank black-tie galas, includes a silent and/or live auction.
During the cocktail hour, patrons cruise the aisles of restaurant gift certificates, jewelry, vacations, signed sports memorabilia, artwork and other silent auction items. Then, after dinner (and after everyone’s had a few drinks), live auctioneers take the stage to shake top dollar from the crowd for high-ticket items like trips to the Canyon Ranch Spa, big-time bling or, a recent favorite, Hannah Montana tickets.
I’ve seen really fab items go for a relative song, while others fetch eye-popping prices. Thanks to Aida Flamm for sending along this article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy, about how auctioneers may face a tough time reaching fund-raising goals at charity galas.
Have you scored any silent or live-auction bargains? Better yet, if you are serving on an auction committee, are you worried about meeting your charity’s fundraising goal?
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