Photos: Lifesavers Gala Honors Ron Donatucci, Jr. at the Lucy

March 20, 2019 by HughE Dillon Leave a comment

**HughE Dillon, Ron Donatucci Jr. with the Lifesaver Award, Maryann Murtha, AFSP Board Chair** and **Bernard Hopkins**

On March 15, 2019, The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP) held its 4th annual Save a Life Gala at The Lucy by Cescaphe events. This year’s honoree was Ron Donatucci, Jr. who co-founded Michael’s Giving Hand, an organization which brings awareness to teen depression and anxiety , in the name of his brother Michael Donatucci, who passed away in 2016

**Lisa Pflaumer,**
Executive Director at Michael’s Giving H.A.N.D, **Dana Donatucci, and Carla Werner**

Guests enjoyed a spirited cocktail hour before heading into the ballroom for a sit down dinner. I, HughE Dillon, the 2015 Save A Life honoree was on hand to honor Ron Donatucci, Jr., and give Ron Donatucci the award along with iconic boxer Bernard Hopkins, who volunteers and speaks to teens on behalf of Michael’s Giving Hand’s, was emcee for the evening. Proceeds from the event helps fund AFSP’s mission to save lives and give hope to those affected by suicide and the annual Philadelphia Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk in June.

**Gene DeSimone, Joanne DeSimone, Flossie and Dominic Simirglia, Stephanie Donatucci,Ron Donatucci Jr. with Ron & Dana Donatucci.**

Nikki Carden and Sarah Hart, executive director of AFSP Philadelphia
Mark Gaines, and Tuesday Gordon Gaines, Joan Shepp
Kylie Stetler and Rebecca Tillem
Jerry Blavat entertained the crowd with his signature style
Thanuja Hamilton, Bernard Hopkins and Joy Tate
Jaimi Blackburn, HughE Dillon and Catherine Siciliano

**Lucy, the newest Cescaphe event space** is located at Broad and Spruce, and really embodies the excitement of an event including amazing vistas of The Academy Music, City Hall and bustling Broad Street.

Proceeds from the event helps fund AFSP’s mission to save lives and give hope to those affected by suicide and the annual Philadelphia Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk in October. To See additional photos head on over to Philly Style Magazine, CBSPhilly and in Philly Magazine’s June issue. Thanks to PhillyChitChat team member Andre Flewellen who contributed photos to this column. Event produced by Lynsie Blair Events.

Cheers For CHOP 2017 With Montell Jordan

March 13, 2019 by HughE Dillon Leave a comment

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s sixth annual Cheers for CHOP raised $735,000 to support pediatric brain tumor research and care. More than 600 donors, clinicians and friends of CHOP attended the event on Saturday, March 2, at The Fillmore Philadelphia, and enjoyed a live performance by Grammy-nominated artist Montell Jordan

The sixth annual Cheers for CHOP was hosted by Friends of CHOP, a dynamic group of Philadelphia’s most social and philanthropic young influencers who are committed to vibrant fundraising efforts that support CHOP’s mission of providing exemplary patient care, spearheading innovative research, and sharing knowledge with the world. Over the past five years, Cheers for CHOP has raised more than $2.7 million to benefit hospital programs such as Orthopaedics, Pulmonary Medicine and Child Life.

Every dollar raised this year will fuel breakthroughs in the fight against brain tumors, the deadliest childhood cancer. The Neuro-Oncology Program at CHOP, led by Dr. Michael Fisher, is a group of seven full-time, dedicated pediatric neuro-oncologists, and is one of the largest groups dedicated to treating pediatric brain and spinal tumors, neurofibromatosis and associated tumors. This year alone, the neuro-oncologists at CHOP will treat nearly 1,500 cancer patients during more than 4,600 visits to the hospital.

As doctors work tirelessly to manage and treat these patients, researchers from CHOP’s Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D³b) are actively involved in ongoing pediatric brain tumor research through the Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium (CBTTC). The CBTTC is a collaborative, multi-institutional research program dedicated to the study of childhood brain tumors. By collecting information about childhood brain tumors and creating the largest repository of brain tumor tissue in the world, research scientists are able to study the tumor cells of more than 30 histologically different types of childhood brain tumors. Through CHOP’s commitment to translational research, these findings are able to move into clinical trials within the Section of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology in order to speed discovery and personalize treatment.