last night was a very special night for me, Lakay Pam, a non-profit organization that is very dear to my heart had their third fund raiser event in New York City. The evening was a huge succes in great part because of the support of the ever so lovely Coco Rocha who makes magic happen, but also Behati Prinsloo, Milk Gallery, James Conran and all the amazing photographers who donated their work to a very successful silent auction.
I have been on board with Lakay Pam to help raise money and awareness for the children in Haiti for many many years and i am very proud to say that little by little we are now able to help and improve the lives of thousands of children in Haiti. Let's not forget of the people who need us, it takes very little effort to cause great impact in other people's lives!
Have a read on this little article I wrote for LookBooks on the event last night! CLICK HERE
Culture: Letters to Haiti
In an evening of relentless rain, New York City's most die hard charity fans showed up for Haiti. The event led by supermodel Coco Rocha entitled "Letters to Haiti" came to show that when you mix, fashion, art and humanitarian causes you can't go wrong. In it's third fund raiser, the non profit organization Lakay Pam, founded by Cedrick Roche and his wife,Carolina Bittencourt-Roche - moved locations, leaving the grungy Opera Gallery in Chelsea and Mr. Brainwash's colorful installations behind to inhabit a more minimalist spot.
The gallery at Milk Studios included works by Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo, Greg Kadel, Enrique Badulescu and Ben Watts, among others; all up for auction to help raise money for the charity that supports orphanages and schools in Port Au Prince
But the main event of the evening was James Conran's documentary screening which also gave name to the event - "Letters to Haiti" - in which Mr. Conran depicts the efforts of Coco and Behati along with a couple of friends in bringing letters and donations from around the world to the children of Haiti. As some of you may know, James Conran is Coco Rocha's husband, a talented designer and now also a filmmaker.
Coco's efforts didn't go unnoticed and she managed to bring out her buddies Karlie Kloss and Hillary Rhoda as well as long time friend Mr. Zac Posen who made sure Rocha had a fresh-off the runway look to wear for the evening. Before the film started. We heard the warm laughter of Lauren Santo-Domingo trading impressions of Ms. Prinsloo's pictures with make up artist Joe Hubrich and Carolina Bittencourt-Roche discussing blogging with her friend Luciana Curtis.
After the screening of the documentary was finished, Coco reminded everyone that the silent auction was about to begin, but – and said, "If you can't bid or donate, then maybe you can spread the word and help us raise awareness, Haiti still needs you".
The message was received, and it seemed that the guests were in pretty good holiday spirits as most of the photographs were sold with no fuss; well, except for one very colorful photography by Ben Watts; generating a bidding war that culminated with the designer Ana Lerario-Geller having to outbid an unknown gentleman by a hundred dollars in the last minute before the bidding closed. Merry Christmas Robert Geller!
All in all it was a fun night out on a very boring rainy New York evening where the holiday spirit could be felt in full force.
Gabriel Ruas Santos-Rocha, to see mroe of his writing click here.
All photos courtesy of Josh Wong Photography
