UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Madonna, Chris Rock and dozens of other celebrities raised $5.5 million at a star-studded benefit at the United Nations to help poor and sick children around the world.
The $2,500-a-plate dinner and live auction hosted by Rock on Wednesday night was an unusual blend of charity and commercial promotion for the U.N. and made some of its officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, uneasy.
Gucci, which paid the costs, pegged the event to the Friday opening during New York’s Fashion Week of its Manhattan flagship store on Fifth Avenue and put its logo and UNICEF’s behind the walkway where celebrities were photographed.
The United Nations Children’s Fund relies on $1 billion in private sector donations for its $3.5 billion global budget, but the U.N. had never before granted permission to a company to erect a 42,000-square-foot tent on the north lawn of the U.N. for such a lavish event with a commercial tie-in. Gucci gave paying guests its limited edition “Gucci Loves NY” handbag, with a big red heart, costing more than $600 each.
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[The article chronicles how "a massive, 10-year expansion of its fundraising structure led to a 600 percent increase in revenue for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and a new world of health and security for the children it helps." Chip Lyons, Jeff Towers and Ed Lloyd were interviewed at length for this story as were USF board members Tony Pantaleoni and Tea Leoni.]
By ABNY SANTICOLA
A massive, 10-year expansion of its fundraising structure led to a 600 percent increase in revenue for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and a new world of health and security for the children it helps.
UNICEF is like no other organization in the world. Founded in 1946 to help children in post-war Europe, China and the Middle East, the organization now has 37 national committees and gives aid to disadvantaged children in 156 countries and territories, providing services that include immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF was the first national committee established for the organization. In 1947, with the war over and the crisis in Europe subsiding, there were concerns about how to keep UNICEF funded. Up until that point, the U.S. government had been its sole supporter, but that wasn’t something the organization felt it could rely on as a sure thing. As a solution to the dilemma, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF was formed. Later renamed the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the group took UNICEF’s fate out of the hands of the U.S. government and put it in the hands of the public; and it put the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on the road to becoming the international fundraising organization that it is today.
Helenka Pantaleoni was a co-founder of the U.S. Fund and served as its president for 25 years. A Broadway actress born to Polish musicians who had emigrated prior to the war, Pantaleoni had become involved with aid efforts following Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the loss of her husband, who died fighting for American forces. Her personal connection to the horrors of World War II and the suffering that resulted translated into a passion for her work with the U.S. Fund. Under her leadership, the organization raised $113 million, mostly through grass-roots efforts.
Pantaleoni’s passion not only helped raise support for UNICEF programs, encourage individual giving and increase public awareness of the challenges that children in need face throughout the world, but it also created a family tradition of giving back. Her son, Anthony Pantaleoni, is an attorney who has served on the board of directors for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for almost seven years and currently serves as the board’s vice chair; and her granddaughter, actress Tea Leoni, recently joined her father on the board and has been a U.S. Fund for UNICEF ambassador since 2003.
Each Pantaleoni was exposed to and came to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on his or her own, and in his or her own way. It’s symbolic of the relationship the U.S. Fund for UNICEF historically has had with most of its supporters: exposing them when they’re young to the needs of children worldwide through grass-roots fundraising efforts, such as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, and hoping the relationship builds an affinity that will translate into support and involvement when they become adults. It’s a strategy that has proved successful, but the organization found it was leaving needed funds on the table.
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Hollywood honey - and UNICEF goodwill ambassador - Tea Leoni
says she doesn’t mind when United Nations earth mother Angelina Jolie is mistaken for working for the UN’s global children’s charity.
“Not that I mind when people make that mistake,” the actress said at a UNICEF fundraiser in the Back Bay last night. “Angelina Jolie is a good example of someone who really puts her time into bettering the lives of so many children.
“What I don’t understand is the media’s criticism (of Jolie’s) involvement in humanitarian aide and why they question her motives and sincerity,” said Tea. “It’s like, ‘Who cares?’ She’s doing a good job and putting so much of her time and money in the causes.”
And Leoni knows something about that. Her grandmother, silent screen star Helenka Pantaleoni, co-founded what would become the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in 1947 and then served as its president for 25 years. While the “Fun with Dick and Jane” star has officially served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF since 2001, she said the family’s legacy has been with her since childhood.
UNICEF “has always been so much a part of my life beyond trick-or-treating,” the 41-year-old comedian said. “I spoke on behalf of my grandmother at events many times - I think once in Boston.”
But it was after she married “X Files” actor David Duchovny and had kids, Madelaine West, 7, and son, Kyd Miller, 4, that she decided to take a more active role in the organization.
Having children changes everything and it was my position as a mother that made me really raise the intensity level of my involvement,” she said. “I really look forward to when my daughter is old enough to come into the field with me.”
Leoni, who summers in South Dartmouth, was hosted last night by local actress and indie movie producer Christy Scott Cashman at her fine home in the Back Bay.
Apart from setting up last night’s charity event, Cashman has been busy gearing up for next Saturday’s John Hancock Hall premiere of her latest film, “Kettle of Fish,” in which she appears with indie star Matthew Modine.
Tea Leoni teams up with jewelry designer Di MODOLO
for UNICEF.
| ? |
Top: T?a Leoni. Above: The 18K-white-gold circular
pendant features delicately engraved blue-topaz stones
depicting a mother and child. The necklace is available
with diamonds ($2,950) or without ($950), and each comes
with two interchangeable silk cords. 888.346.6365;
www.dimodolo.com |
Actress Tea Leoni idolized her grandmother and with good reason. In
1947, Helenka Pantaleoni, a former silent film actress and
friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, founded the U.S.
Fund for UNICEF, serving 25 years as president of the children’s
relief organization.
“There are extraordinary people in the world and, simply,
she was one,” says Leoni, who has followed in her grandmother’s
footsteps as an actress and, since 2001, a UNICEF ambassador. “She
was always rational. She seemed to have this steady way about
her. That had an impact on me.”
An impact that grew even after her grandmother’s passing
in 1987. While going through the belongings of her grandmother
and grandfather, Guido Pantaleoni, family members discovered
beloved items Mrs. Pantaleoni meant for them to treasure.
Looking through a file cabinet of UNICEF papers, Leoni found
an old, gray leather box. Inside was a lovely string of pearls
with a note that read, “For H.P. from G.P.” Below
the note, her grandmother had written, “For Tea.” Leoni
found it odd that the necklace, which she cherishes, would
be tucked into the UNICEF papers - until recently.
“She wanted me in there,” says Leoni, who joined
the U.S. Fund board of directors in June. Since 2001, Leoni
has made trips to impoverished regions of Honduras and Vietnam,
taking in the enormity of UNICEF’s challenge, while
finding reasons to take heart. “There’s that
ever-sustaining hope that kids have,” says the mother
of two children with husband, actor/director David Duchovny. “Grown-ups
have cynicism and intellect, but there’s always hope
in the faces of kids. They have no doubt. And every child
deserves a childhood.”
To that end, Leoni looks for innovative ways to aid UNICEF’s
health and education initiatives. A few years ago, she began
appearing in ad campaigns for Di MODOLO, the Italian jewelry
company, donating 100 percent of her fee to UNICEF. Leoni
said she recognized the company’s desire to make a
difference. “They responded with great enthusiasm,” says
the star of Deep Impact and Spanglish.
This year, she and master jeweler Dino Modolo created a necklace
that captures UNICEF’s eternal hope. Fifty percent
of proceeds from the sale of each striking pendant ? inspired
by her grandmother’s free-form statue of a mother and
child ? will go to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on behalf
of Di MODOLO. Two models ? one in white gold and blue
topaz and the other with added diamonds ? are available
at Di MODOLO boutiques and select fine jewelers this holiday
season. “I’m thrilled with it,” Leoni says.
Leoni is working on a film with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley,
and she and Duchovny recently started their own production
company, but she says her career priorities have shifted. “At
this age, I find that I’m only interested in doing
things that are artistically pleasing to me.”
She expects to make at least one more trip for UNICEF in
the next three months, possibly to South America or West
Africa. She has traveled with her father, Anthony Pantaleoni,
also a U.S. Fund board member, and she’s looking forward
to the day her children are old enough to accompany her.
Until then, they’ll carry their “Pennies for
UNICEF” boxes each Halloween.
“It’s a first form of philanthropy,” she
says. “My grandmother was adamant that UNICEF always
had an element of kids helping other kids. We, as adults,
may get a great idea, but kids want to see it through.”
Courtesy of Panachemag!
MALIBU, Calif. — Former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and other celebrities gathered Sunday to protest a natural gas facility proposed for a site 14 miles off the Malibu coast.
”We have to use our voices and band together and stop this,” said Oscar winner Halle Berry.
The gathering — also attended by Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke and Tea Leoni — was intended to raise awareness about how the energy industry has invested billions to liquefy and ship natural gas across oceans.
There are five facilities proposed for California, with three along the Southern California coastline. One of the world’s largest energy companies, Australian-based BHP Billiton, is seeking to build the terminal off the coast of Malibu and Oxnard. A decision is expected next year.
BHP officials say the terminals would provide a reliable source of low-polluting energy. Opponents say the terminals would not meet clean-air requirements and could be terrorist targets.
