DEL.ICIO.USLocal charities feel the economic pinch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, October 20, 2008
The sixth annual “Party for the Kitchen,” benefiting the charity Open Hand, was going to be quite the bash.
Planned for Thursday at Cucine Lube Kitchen and Bath Design Center, it was to feature live entertainment, a silent auction and catering by A Legendary Event, one of Atlanta’s most prominent party-planning outfits.
Sara Hopkins/Special
Meg Harrington (left) and Ann Huff, owners of the Huff Harrington art gallery in Buckhead, host parties to help nonprofit organizations raise money.
But “Party for the Kitchen” has been shelved, an elegant casualty of ongoing economic uncertainty. In a time of growing need, organizers decided to focus on the beneficiary instead of the benefit. They have asked those who paid to attend to allow their money to be used as donations to the charity instead of tickets to an event.
“We think our purpose is more important than our party,” said co-chairwoman Sally Dorsey, noting that the event is being scheduled again for next year. “Our clients are in desperate straits.”
Without the expense of the party, Open Hand, which delivers meals to seniors and the chronically ill, will be able to serve an additional 15,000 meals. Stacie Hanna, who had planned to attend, applauded the move.
“I’d rather them feed people than have a party,” she said. “It’s a sign of a responsible charity.”
Throughout Atlanta’s social set, it seems, Wall Street woes are affecting Main Street, no matter how swank the address.
“People are being more choosy” about which events to attend, said philanthropist Sacha Taylor, a fixture on the charity-ball circuit. “There are a lot of people who really can’t say ‘no.’ The economy has given people a reason to say ‘no.’ I have caught myself saying ‘no’ this fall.”
Taylor co-chaired last weekend’s Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit with Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Charlie Hendon. In August, she and Lila Hertz co-chaired Jeffrey Fashion Cares, which raised money for the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The hauls from both events — $800,000 and $400,000, respectively — were reported with a sense of marvel, given the tremors in the economy.
Taylor, wife of former Georgia lieutenant governor Mark Taylor, has signed on to chair several upcoming galas. But going forward, she predicts a sort of social-calendar Darwinism, a shakeout in which major, long-standing events will survive but newcomers may not. The result, though, could be positive: stronger events will have more of an impact with the charities they benefit.
“Certainly we all love going to events,” said Taylor, but “it’s not always necessary.”
Cutting back, connecting
In some cases, organizers are getting creative to cut costs and maximize contributions in trying times. Melanie Boltax skipped mailing invitations to a $100-per-person luncheon next month to benefit Camp Kudzu, which serves children with juvenile diabetes. Instead, she sent e-mails. To save the expense of flowers. she’s using donated bottles of perfume as table centerpieces, and has asked friends to dig through their jewelry boxes for silent auction items.
“If you know any other ways to save money, call me,” is Boltax’s message to supporters.
The fourth annual Keeping it Wild gala, benefiting the Atlanta conservation group’s programs, managed to turn financial unease into something of a marketing campaign. Its e-mail invitation touting an Oct. 25 bash at Mason Murer Fine Art declares: “You can’t afford to miss this gala!”
Tony Conway, president of A Legendary Event, sees charitable events scaling back and placing more emphasis than ever on their beneficiaries.
“I feel as both a supporter of the charity scene and a business owner that benefits from this industry, that it is important that we continue to support the charities with the events,” said Conway. “It keeps the charity’s message in front of potential donors and helps to raise dollars for so many who are having an even tougher time in this economic time.”
Karin Smithson is triply qualified to comment on economic jitters in Atlanta’s social scene. She chaired the host committee last spring’s Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities benefit at Capital City Club-Brookhaven. She’s also a licensed psychotherapist at The Anxiety & Stress Management Institute. And the mother of 9-week-old twins is married to a real estate developer.
Lately she’s found the chatter at social outings a bit more serious.
“Women tend to open up more than men,” said Smithson. “The topic always comes up. People want to know how everyone’s doing, how the husbands are doing. People are feeling like they don’t have enough resources on a lot of fronts.”
The rancor of the presidential campaign just exacerbates people’s stress over the economy, she noted. Not that there isn’t a sterling silver lining to be found here. In the world of air kisses, she’s seeing people starting to connect on a more genuine level.
“I went to a luncheon the other day, and everyone bowed their head. It was one of the first times where we prayed before a meal,” said Smithson. “We all like to put faces on, in one way or another. Now is the time to talk to people you can trust.”
‘Feeling the pain’
And time for people to help each other, as Meg Harrington and Ann Huff have found. The owners of Huff Harrington Fine Art have long hosted charity events in their Buckhead gallery, but say it’s more important than ever for them to open their doors.
“Any fresh face that comes in the gallery is good for us,” Harrington said. “They’re not going to buy today or tomorrow,” added Huff, but the gallery will be there to welcome them back when they are ready to make a purchase, she said.
The gallery just hosted the patron party for “Night of Hope,” an Oct. 10 black-tie benefit that raised money for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) research. Over the weekend, a frame sale raised nearly $900 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and during the last two weeks of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it will donate a percentage of sales to the Susan G. Komen foundation.
“In the last month or so, we’ve started feeling the pain from our clients,” Huff said. “We decided we weren’t going to let the economy get us down.”
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