| EVENT REPORT 12.17.08 2:20 PM |
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| Drinking Buddies |
| Charity: Water ended a year of new partnerships and fund-raising with its third annual ball. |
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Charity: Water, Scott Harrison’s upstart organization to bring clean wells to Africa and other impoverished nations, held its third annual Charity: Ball Monday night at Metropolitan Pavilion, with more than 1,500 guests in attendance. The Adrian Grenier-hosted event capped off a big year of new sponsors and partnerships for the charity and provided a financial jumping-off point for 2009.
Over the past year, Charity: Water added brands such as Miss Sixty, Wired, and Google to its growing roster of partners and held fund-raisers in New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. Monday’s ball served as an opportunity to reflect on that growth, with some of those initiatives on display at the party. One wall near the stage showcased Charity: Water’s recent programs with Saks Fifth Avenue, Brighton Collectibles, and Theory, and the money those partnerships helped raise. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Tripp/Mixx Productions once again built the water walk, a runway where guests could experience the daily ritual of carrying water that takes place in many impoverished parts of the world.
Photo: Nadav Havakook |
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 | The water walk gave guests the opportunity to walk with 40-pound jerry cans filled with water to raise money for new wells.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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 | Staff sold Charity: Water shirts throughout the night to take advantage of guests' generous moods.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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 | Projects with brands such as Brighton Collectibles found their way into the decor so guests could see the direct results of Charity: Water's partnerships.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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 | Folksinger Amos Lee performed for the crowd near the end of the night.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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 | Guests received numbered puzzle pieces to put on a giant display that became a portrait of one of Charity: Water's many beneficiaries.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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 | Guests learned how much water they actually use in a day from statistics on the volume necessary to produce things such as a pork chop.
Photo: Esther Havens/Parker Young |
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The organization’s mounting exposure has brought on celebrity evangelists like Jennifer Connelly and mainstream attention from popular culture. This year’s ball actually provided the backdrop for an episode of The City, MTV's upcoming spin-off of The Hills.
The party itself doesn’t come together from the efforts of celebrity but rather from the many vendors willing to work pro bono. Venue, production, and staffing all came compliments of Metropolitan Pavilion—even the bartenders donated the evening's tips to the organization. Designers at Tripp/Mixx once again worked on the room's focal point, the water walk. The labor-intensive runway show, which attempts to simulate the daily journey so many people around the world endure on a daily basis just to get drinking water, took the shape of a square this year so more guests could watch and participate in the interactive exhibition. Kodak and Google pledged donations for every person who traversed the catwalk.
Generosity wasn't limited to the vendors and sponsors. Charity: Ball 2008 outmatched the money made at last year's event. Ticket sales, combined with funds raised by the live and silent auctions, totaled $500,000—bringing the organization's total haul since it began a few years ago to $7.5 million.
—Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
Charity: Water, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brighton Collectibles, Theory, Kodak, Google, Wired, Miss Sixty
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