News
WOMEN OF VALOR!
August 7, 2009
| Yesterday, 750 of you packed the Waldorf Astoria grand ballroom for the seventh annual Women of Valor awards tea, benefiting the Capuchin Food Pantries, which provides clothes, counseling, and food to poor families in New York. |
 |
| We snapped honorees including PepsiCo’s Connie van Rhyn, Caran Properties’ Rebecca Mason, Forrest Solutions’ Kate Post, JP Morgan Chase’s Kim Bertin, Scripps Networks’ Diana Gonzalez, Ted Moudis Associates’ Lucy Carter, Moody’s Stacey Ingle, and Grubb & Ellis’ Geraldine Walsh. Kim received the Francis Award for espousing the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi; Lucy and Kate received the Humanitarian Award, presented for consistently working for the welfare of others and social reform; and the others received the Clarisa Award, named after St. Clare, for having the spirit of compassion, simplicity, and respect, and for sharing these values in the business sector. |
 |
| Also honored was Jones Lang’s Cynthia Wasserberger, here receiving her Clarisa Award from Fr. Francis Gasparik, executive director of Capuchin. The pantries are a ministry of the Capuchin Franciscans to help the disadvantaged and those in need. There are 12 independent feeding programs with over 1.2M meals served annually throughout NYC, Long Island, and even Honduras. It also includes clothing distribution, soup kitchens, and a safe haven. |
 |
| TV and radio host Rita Cosby, now a special correspondent forInside Edition, spoke about the importance of giving. She was also to introduce the event’s keynote, Kirsten Gillibrand, but the Senator was in DC for another important event involving a New Yorker,--Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation vote. Gillibrand sent her regards via video. |
 |
| Mann Publications’ Jeff Mann and Michelle Kubaki, who hosted the event, with Capuchin Food Pantries’ Joseph Sano. Although the Pantries concerns itself with the short-term goal of feeding the hungry, it looks toward the long-term goal of eradicating causes of hunger like unemployment, addiction, lack of entitlement programs, and domestic violence. Unfortunately, the recession is causing a trickle-down effect on even more families. Jeff says, more than ever, we should open our hearts because there’s nothing in NYC comparable to the Pantries, which helps over 5k families annually. |
 |
| One of the first Women of Valor, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo, center, congratulates fellow CREW network members Rebecca Mason and Lucy Carter. Rebecca is the newly installed president of AREW, while Lucy sits on the boards of both AREW and NYCREW. (Yes, that's NYCREW prez Liz Muskat in the back right, but don't worry, she gets a full glamour shot below.) The tea was formed in ’03 to honor individuals who have worked tirelessly to help the underprivileged in NYC; NYCREW supports the Youth Empowerment Mission and AREW the Women In Need organization, among other charitable efforts. (More photos) |
