A decade on, nobody could say that UNICEF’s annual Snowflake Ball lacked any trappings of a full-fledged black-tie fundraiser befitting the grandiosity of Cipriani Wall Street, which last night hosted the party’s tenth anniversary. Rows of umbrella-wielding attendants flanked both sides of the restaurant entrance. The dinner menu was co-conceived by Red Rooster maestro (and UNICEF Ambassador) Marcus Samuelsson and paired with liberal pours of Cipriani’s most famous offering, the Bellini. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer staged a Today show reunion over a round table, rather than the news desk. And emcee Bryant Gumbel applauded the adventurism of Tom Freston, one of last night’s two honorees, by publicly recounting how he and his wife Hilary (the other honoree) once joined the Frestons on a yacht in the Mediterranean, where they “gave new meaning to ‘sailing the high seas’” once in international waters.
The Snowflake Ball, however, is also the rare charity gala at which the purpose of the gathering—in this case, to fund aid for the world s children in need—is never ignored. Last night, in fact, the fundraising was highlighted. Kimberly Chandler got competitive with last year’s auction record by inciting the audience to bid higher on tickets to watch her husband (and newly minted Dallas Maverick) Tyson play the Knicks. Prabal Gurung witnessed tickets to his fall 2015 show, among a slew of other NYFW highlights, go for a five-figure sum. A total of ten all-terrain SUVs equipped with emergency medical supplies were donated on the spot. And other guests opted to fund a variety of provisions, from community water pumps to pencils. Big-game donations were interspersed with performances by Jill Scott and Nico Vinz. By the time guests headed upstairs for an after-party, more than $3.4 million had been pledged. It’s not often that a spending spree of that magnitude leaves everyone involved without a hint of buyer’s remorse.
