One 'Good' Turn Deserves Another

It was an evening of fabulous photographs and philanthropy at the Chelsea Art Museum last night. Award-winning celebrity photographer Brian Marcus exhibited and auctioned off his moving series Malawi: Images of Progress to benefit Goods for Good, a non-profit organization that finds surplus products from U.S. corporations and funnels them to vulnerable children in the developing world, principally in Malawi and Haiti. The organization provides necessary school supplies, clothing, health and hygiene products to many children in need while also reducing waste at home. Its motto? Making Progress out of Excess.
                   
More than 500 New Yorkers sipped on cocktails donated by Voli Vodka and enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvre from Newman and Leventhal Caterers while bidding on their favorite photos. Minimum bids started at $500 per print, and some sold for nearly $2,000 each; all but three of the fifty had buyers.

Through ticket sales and a silent auction, the event raised just under $60,000, a portion of which will go to Goods for Good’s work in Haiti, helping to rebuild the lives of orphans.
 
Atlas Florist, Bianca Blag Total Entertainment, Espon, Hank Lane Music, Leather Craftsman, More than Music, Yale Framing, Pegasus Productions and Fred Marcus Photography generously donated goods and services to make the evening a success. Notable guests included Malawian Ambassador to the U.N. Steven Matejne, Alex Charriol, Kipton Cronkite, Soraya Dorabi, Kate Dylan, gallerist Talia Eisenberg, Keren Eldad, Melissa Foss, illustrator Alessandra Olanow, Emma Snowdon-Jones, Raj Tolaram, Annabel Vartanian and Goods for Good founder Melissa Kushner.

For more party pics, click here.

—WENDY FURRER

Wendy Furrer is a journalist whose work can be seen at wendyfurrer.com.

Because We Love the Louvre

They were a world away from the Mona Lisa, but the smiles were much broader this evening at Soirée au Louvre, an event at sponsored by the Young Patrons Circle of the American Friends of the Louvre at Espace, in midtown. With a high glam quotient (after all, the invite called for "French chic"), the festivities were co-chaired by Olivia Chantecaille and Kipton Cronkite also included a silent auction, dancing and joie d'vivre to spare.