MDF is thrilled to announce that our biggest fundraising event of the year has raised over $1.35 million to help fund critical programs and services for individuals and families living with myotonic dystrophy! A special thank you to all of our Gala Donors and Sponsors who have helped advance MDF's mission of Community, Care, and a Cure. We are truly in awe of your incredible generosity and support!
We would also like to extend a huge thank you to our incredible Co-Chairs of the 2022 MDF Gala: Martha Montag Brown, Erica Kelly & Leslie Lynch! With the assistance of our Special Projects Manager, Kate Beck, and the rest of the Gala Committee, which consisted of Molly Aube, Elizabeth Florence, Shannon Kates, and Alison Woods, these passionate women were able to once again organize and execute our most successful fundraising event in MDF history!
We are also incredibly grateful to Tsion & Joanne Bensusan for hosting our community at this spectacular event at the one-of-kind Sony Hall in the heart of New York City.
The evening began with cocktails & hors d'oeuvres and featured the family stories of two of our Gala Co-chairs. After the welcome, MDF Board Chair Jeremy Kelly introduced Dr. Eric Wang, of the MDF Scientific Advisory Committee, who shared his journey with DM and the importance of MDF to support the future development of myotonic dystrophy research.
Throughout the evening interviews with people living with myotonic dystrophy and their caregivers were shown to help illustrate and explain the complexity and variability of the disease. As we began the fundraising portion of the night, attendees bid on 10 fabulous auction items, and then a family living with myotonic dystrophy took the lead and pledged a $100,000 donation to help change the future of the DM. This generosity inspired another familiy living with myotonic dystrophy to increase their donation to $50,000 that night!
Thank you to all attendees, supporters, auction item donors, and sponsors; you all made this event the smashing success that it was! We hope you had an unforgettable evening and thank you for taking us one step further on our journey to empower our community, improve care, and drive research to a cure!
