Day Out with JVN Headlines HSPVA’s Record-Breaking Lunch and Auction

Day Out with JVN Headlines HSPVA’s Record-Breaking Lunch and Auction

Bob Eury, Deborah Keyser & James Stafford

HSPVA CELEBRATED FIVE years at its Downtown campus with a 1920s-jazz-club-inspired luncheon for 300 supporters. Guests were transported to the days of swing dancing as a student-conducted band played music by Duke Ellington, while performers, donning showgirl and flapper costumes from the high school’s performance of After Midnight, danced along.


Lunch was served onstage in the school’s Denney Theatre. The meal was unusually decadent for a luncheon, as chef Michelle Morris of Southern Cadence Cuisine served chicken scarpariello with pickled sweet peppers, a white wine Calabrian chili, crispy potatoes — and finished off with a chocolate pot de crème for dessert.

A toast was given by HISD Superintendent Mike Miles who spoke of his personal appreciation for arts education. A live auction followed, and the package featuring a day out with Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness — including a hair and skincare consultation — went for $6,000.

The afternoon raised a record-breaking $306,700 for Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. These funds will provide arts supplies, adjunct faculty, specialized equipment and technology, and other essential building blocks of Kinder HSPVA’s nationally acclaimed, tuition-free arts curriculum.

Kinder HSPVA students welcome guests

Duke & C.C. Ensell

Jo Furr, Leslie Wade, Shawn Stephens, and Kelley Lubanko

Mike Miles

Kinder HSPVA Jazz Director Warren Sneed and 2024 Distinguished Alumna Helen Sung

Kerry Walker and Victoria Lazar

Kennard & Dawn McGuire

HSPVA Friends Executive Director Alene Coggin and Philip Edmundson

Frank Angelle, Patricia Bonner, Algenita Scott Davis, and Zakiya Thomas

Chairs Tissy & Rusty Hardin and Bob Eury

Parties
Fall Philanthropy Report: March of Dimes’ ‘Signature Chefs’ Event Coming in November

What year was your organization launched? 1938

What is your mission? March of Dimes was founded in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to combat polio. The name “March of Dimes” was suggested by entertainer Eddie Cantor as a way to encourage people to donate even a small amount, like a dime, to help fight polio.

Keep Reading Show less

Diana Madero, Thea Pheasey, Alejandra Peterman, Hillary Jebbitt

EIGHT CHEFS, THIRTY years — and one big dinner! Urban Harvest rang in its fourth decade of community gardens, farmers markets and food access at their annual farm-to-table dinner cooked up by some of the most notable chefs in town.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties

The inspired menu at Amalfi emphasizes fresh seafood and, on right, Giancarlo Ferrara

THIS WEDNESDAY, AMALFI Ristorante will transport guests to the sun-soaked shores of Southern Italy’s Campania region, home to the glamorous island of Capri, with a six-course dinner. The menu, curated by Executive Chef Giancarlo Ferrara, will be paired with wines from Agricola Bellaria Winery, one of Campania’s most celebrated estates.

Keep Reading Show less
Food