Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, a goodwill program benefiting children and families, held its eighth annual celebrity gala last night at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
“Live with Regis and Kelly” host, Regis Philbin returned for his fifth Samsung gala and was joined by NBC Commentator Bob Costas, who returned for his third gala.
Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope recognizes the charitable efforts of sports, entertainment, and political notables, including former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Gretzky, Arnold Palmer, Jimmie Johnson, Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino through fundraising programs tied to business partners major retailers such as Best Buy, Sears, and the recently added Lowe’s as well as some of its regional partners.
Grammy-Award winner and philanthropist John Legend gave a special live performance to more than 500 guests in attendance where his Show Me Campaign was one of the benefiting charities from the evening’s event. The Show Me Campaign’s mission is to end poverty through sustainable development, education and service at the individual, family and community levels. Legend also brought along singer songwriter Estelle and his brother Vaughn to help entertain the crowd as both are part of Legend’s new record label, Home School Records.
“All of the charities involved in this event are doing tremendous work and I applaud their efforts, I was excited to be part of this night,” said John Legend following his performance.
Other charities to benefit from the event were the Arnold Palmer Foundation, the Boomer Esiason Foundation to Benefit Cystic Fibrosis, the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, the Dan Marino Foundation, the Jason Taylor Foundation, the Michael Strahan Foundation, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, and the Milagro Foundation.
The event featured a roster of celebrities from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and politics including newly signed New York Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez and current Quarterback Kellen Clemens, Amani Toomer, New England Patriots Wes Welker, members of the New York Jets – Kerry Rhodes and Darrelle Revis Green Bay Packers Running Back Ryan Grant, former NBA star and current ESPN NBA Analyst Jamal Mashburn, TV Star Molly Sims, “All My Children’s” Chrishell Stause, Shannon Kane, Brittany Allen and Melissa Claire Egan, music artist and producer Swizz Beatz, Recording Artists Kelis and Fabolous; Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton; Rene Fris of Bravo’s “Shear Genius” and the Winner of America’s Next Top Model Cycle 10 Whitney Thompson. An online and silent auction of unique experiences and sports memorabilia also helped raise funds for all of the participating foundations and charities. The online auction will continue through June 25th at www.gocharity.com/samsung.
“Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope is proud to begin its eight year on such a positive note by raising nearly million dollars for the program’s charities and providing an amazing performance by John Legend who is also a true philanthropist,” said CS Choi, president and CEO, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. “It is especially exciting and encouraging to see all of our partners and celebrities coming together to benefit children and families. Even during this difficult economic climate, Samsung looks forward to being able to support these charitable efforts as we continue our corporate philanthropy initiatives.”
To date, Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope program has raised more than $20 million for charity, while winning awards and recognition for its achievements. For more information, visit www.fourseasonsofhope.com or www.samsung.com/newsroom.
