Baby2Baby, the national non-profit organization that provides basic necessities to children experiencing poverty, announced Oscar-nominated actress, Emmy-winning director, producer, and humanitarian Salma Hayek Pinault will be honored with the “Giving Tree Award” at the 2023 Baby2Baby Gala Presented by Paul Mitchell on Saturday, November 11 in Los Angeles.
The Giving Tree Award is awarded annually to a public figure who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to improving the lives of children in need around the world. Past honorees include Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Drew Barrymore, Vanessa Bryant, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chrissy Teigen, and Kerry Washington.
“I am so honored to be receiving the Giving Tree Award from Baby2Baby,” said Salma Hayek Pinault. “My 39 years of involvement in supporting the wellbeing of women and children give me a deep appreciation and admiration for their heartfelt commitment and efficiency to get the job done. I am very proud to share their mission and am eager to keep learning from these remarkable women.”
“It’s our honor to pay tribute to Salma Hayek Pinault with this year’s Giving Tree Award for her extensive work on behalf of vulnerable children and families,” shared Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof. “From her commitment to combating social injustices and disaster relief efforts to her work supporting refugee children, Salma exemplifies everything that this award represents. We applaud how she has used her platform to increase resources and opportunities for women and girls, and we are thrilled to highlight her extraordinary commitment to these causes.”
Throughout her life, Hayek Pinault has consistently championed the rights of women, children, and immigrants. After lobbying Congress to extend the Violence Against Women Act, she co-founded The Kering Foundation, which leads initiatives aimed at liberating women around the world from sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Hayek Pinault later partnered with Gucci to create Chime For Change: a program advancing education, health, and justice of girls. In 2015, she visited Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon alongside UNICEF and mounted the “Chime for Education” campaign to raise money to educate refugee children. In 2017, Hayek spearheaded fundraising efforts for earthquake victims in Mexico and helped raise nearly a million dollars for UNICEF. During the disaster relief effort, she also partnered with the Pepsico Foundation and Habitat for Humanity to deliver 180 houses for displaced victims of the earthquake. Hayek remains actively engaged in a range of pressing social justice issues and is a longtime supporter of multiple leading nonprofit organizations including Girl Effect, The Cameron Boyce Foundation, and Fondo Semilla.
The Baby2Baby Gala is a critical annual event for the organization as it single-handedly raises millions of dollars each year. The Gala is responsible for raising over 60% of the operating budget each year to make Baby2Baby’s work for children living in poverty possible. In the last 12 years, Baby2Baby has distributed more than 350 million critical items to children in homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, foster care agencies, hospitals and underserved school districts as well as children who have lost everything in the wake of disaster.
Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof have grown Baby2Baby into a national non-profit organization to address the increasing needs of families living in poverty across the country. New data released this year reported that 47% of U.S. families can’t afford diapers. In response to a 500% increase in demand for Baby2Baby’s services since the onset of the pandemic, the organization built its own diaper manufacturing system to maximize its ability to meet this need, allowing them to manufacture diapers for 80% less than the retail price, stretch donor funding further and distribute up to 5X more diapers. In 2023, Baby2Baby was also selected for a pilot program by the Biden Administration alongside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to combat the maternal mortality crisis, delivering essentials to new mothers immediately after giving birth. Most recently, in response to the deadly Maui wildfires, Baby2Baby sent cargo planes filled with hundreds of thousands of emergency supplies including diapers, formula, baby food, and soap to families who lost everything in this tragedy.
Sponsors for the 2023 Baby2Baby Gala include title sponsor Paul Mitchell, as well as City National Bank and Volvo Car USA.
More information about the event, including presenters, expected attendees, and more will be announced in the coming weeks.
To learn more about Baby2Baby, please click here.
