Blankets and socks aren't traditionally used to dress an award ceremony, but that's how Alvaro Castellanos of My Corporate Fiesta chose to decorate the Sheraton Centre Toronto Sunday for Ve'ahavta's 2008 Starry Nights Tikun Olam award gala—hosted by sportscaster Ron McLean and featuring Mariane Pearl as the keynote speaker. "Ve'ahavta donates to the homeless, so everything we've done for the decor is in that theme," said Castellanos, who worked with an organizing committee to plan the event for the Jewish humanitarian organization.
Tall glass vases filled with navy and white socks donated by McGregor Socks topped tables for the 600-person dinner. The socks and navy blankets, which were rolled to create visual displays throughout the venue, will be distributed through an outreach program called the Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless. "One of the most serious issues facing men and women who live on the streets at this time of year is the risk of developing frostbite ... that is why socks are one of the most important items that the MJRH program distributes to people on the streets," stated a summary included in the event program.
"We're being as creative as possible to ensure everything we do can be donated back," Castellanos said of the charity, which invited Jewish writer and Holocaust surviver Elie Wiesel to present the inaugural Tikun Olam awards in 2007. "We had such an incredible response, so we just wanted to have a fitting speaker this year that would have the same kind of mass appeal. She's a great figure," Castellanos said of Pearl, whose husband, Daniel, was abducted and killed while reporting for The Wall Street Journal in Pakistan shortly after September 11, 2001. "Her ideals are in line with what Ve'ahavta believes," Castellanos said.
