Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation’s Angel Ball Raises $3 Million
by Ailbhe Killalea · Daily Front Row122
Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research hosted the 28th Annual Angel Ball in New York City last night at Cipriani Wall Street. The event honors the memory of Gabrielle Rich Aouad, who passed away at 27 after battling acute myelogenous leukemia. Her mother, Denise Rich, and her sisters, Daniella Rich Kilstock and Ilona Rich Schachter, founded Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation to honor Gabrielle’s final wish, to create a leukemia foundation to help others avoid the pain she experienced. In the last 30 years, the foundation has funded over $47 million in grants for blood cancer research. The night celebrated this milestone, honored the life and legacy of Gabrielle, and raised another $3 million toward finding less toxic treatments for blood cancers.
The venue was bathed in pink light and florals covered the tables. At each place setting lay a long tapered candle. Upon opening the event, Denise Rich invited guests to light the candle to honor her daughter and all those battling cancer. It was an emotional moment as the room lit up with flickering candlelight. Later, emotion filled the room once again as Kelly Leach shared the heartbreaking story of her husband, Todd Day, and his battle against stage III diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The couple was undergoing IVF when Todd received his diagnosis. Their daughter, Chloé, was born a year after Todd’s passing.
The host of the night, singer Deborah Cox, spoke to the immense impact of the Angel Ball and Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation: “Back in 2007, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation funded a young researcher named Dr. Scott Armstrong from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who was studying some of the most aggressive forms of leukemia. At the time his work was still in the early stages, but the foundation believed in his vision and gave him the support to pursue it. Fast-forward nearly 20 years and that early research has helped pave the way for something amazing… a new treatment for leukemia that has recently received FDA approval. It’s already offering new hope to patients who previously had very few options.”
Other guests spoke on their experience losing loved ones to cancer. The original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, an honoree of the night, spoke on the passing of her husband, Robert A. Altman. Carter took to the stage dancing to her single “Long Legged Woman.”
“Thank you for showing up. I think that’s most of life. Just showing up,” she began. “I was so thrilled to be a part of what Denise had started so many years ago. Little did I know that a very strong, healthy man like my husband, Robert Altman, would succumb. He worked out every day. He was only 74. And this disease just came and took him. At this very prestigious hospital, this is what they told me: ‘We don’t know why some people die in 30 years, and some people die in seven months. We just don’t know.’ Well, that isn’t good enough for me. It wasn’t enough. And it shouldn’t be good enough for any of us. Dr. Jeffrey Trent, when I asked him, ‘Why?’, he said, ‘We’ll find out.’”
Carter works with City of Hope and TGen along with Dr. Jeffrey Trent, a friend of Carter’s since middle school, to develop treatments for blood cancer. The night also honored philanthropist Nicola Verses and singer and actress Dionne Warwick.
Following the honoring of these guests, comedian Seth Herzog of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon hosted a live auction. Items included a 12-day trip to Peru, jewelry from Lorraine Schwartz, and seven days at the Lucia Magnani Health Clinic in Italy. The auction will continue online here, open to the public through October 22nd. A few highlights from the online auction: two suite tickets to a 2027 season Yankees home game, a personalized outgoing voicemail recording from Hugh Jackman, dinner for six at Chez Margaux, a table for four at Rao’s. Each of these items sounds like a dream night in New York City.
Music flowed throughout the night with performances from host Deborah Cox, along with Shaggy and Taylor Dayne. By 11 p.m., the dance floor was flooded, and champagne was flowing. Guests gathered to take group photos and greet friends; notable attendees included Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, Alex and Keytt Lundqvist, Eric Goldie, Peter Thomas Roth, Tiki Barber, Sandra Lee, Carol Alt, Laura Geller, Lorraine Schwartz, Melissa and Joe Gorga, Charlie Walk, and Cooper Helfet.
The night was sponsored by Lorraine Schwartz, L’AGENCE, Valmont, The Four Seasons Naviva, Armand de Brignac, Hunky Dory by Kathy Hilton, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, LALO Tequila, and Rumor Rose.
Guests were given gift bags including items from Grande Cosmetics, Peter Thomas Roth, Le Métier de Beauté, Valmont, Laura Geller, Bliss, Camille Rose, Dr. Lara Devgan, Dente Blanche Dental, Furtuna Skin, Joyce Giraud Beauty, Navi Mocktails, SkinFood, Satya, Rowe Plastic Surgery, and Let’s Sprinkle by MG.