Clean the World, an Orlando-based nonprofit that collects, recycles, and distributes recycled hotel soaps and bottled amenities, incorporated entertainment from many of the countries it serves at its inaugural gala Saturday night. The event at the Peabody Orlando included entertainers representing Haiti, Rwanda, India, Colombia, and the United States.
“We are in over 45 countries, and we wanted to bring some of that home to our celebration by providing a taste of the cultures where we are reaching out to help,” said William Lowry, director of global development for Clean the World. “And we asked the performers to give us a taste of what they wanted to portray from their countries.”
The entertainment opened with a performance from Jean Beauvoir, an American singer of Haitian background. For the next hour and a half, dancers from the Orlando School of Cultural Dance and local independent dancers performed in front of the 400 guests.
In between numbers, actress Mariana Klaveno, best known for her role on HBO’s True Blood, helped conduct the live auction. Clean the World reached out to Klaveno last year after seeing a tweet she sent out about the organization. Since then she has taped public service announcements for the nonprofit and volunteered at its Vancouver facility.
Sponsors for the gala included Marietta Corporation, Caesars Foundation, Walt Disney World, The American Cleaning Institute, and Lather.
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More than a dozen dancers from the Orlando School of Cultural Dance performed a high-energy routine representing Africa.
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Organizers invited local Dr. Usha Jain to lead a performance representing India.
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Special Event Floral filled fish bowls with jumbo white and smaller blue water pearls, then added battery-operated lights. The Peabody Orlando's duck soap appeared to float on top of each centerpiece.
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For the first course, guests dined on a mixed green salad accented with port wine-poached pears, Westfield Farm Bluebonnet goat cheese, and maple syrup-candied walnuts.
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For dessert, the Peabody Orlando served chocolate parfait and crispy praline feuilletine, decorated with roasted coffee bean cremeux and amaretto sauce.
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Actress Mariana Klaveno spoke at the beginning of dinner and then helped with the live auction.
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The silent auction included many framed collections of sports and entertainment memorabilia. Clean the World is planning to offer some of the remaining items in an online auction later this month.
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Lather sponsored the gala and also provided a box of its skin-care products for the silent auction.
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Organizers used large signs lining the walkway to the ballroom to educate guests about Clean the World.
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Dancers from Colombia performed a lively routine on the stage.
Photo: BizBash
