Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF) held its fourth annual Chairman’s Council Dinner on Sunday March 25, 2018 at Club Colette. Hosted by HDRF Founder & Chair Audrey Gruss and Chairman’s Council Co-Chairs William Flaherty, Susan Lloyd and Scott Snyder, the dinner featured NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath as the special guest speaker and honored the top donors who have helped the Foundation grow into a national leader in advanced depression research.
Mr. Namath was there to share personal insights about brain injury and the work he is doing with his namesake foundation. Guests gathered for cocktails in the restaurant garden which was adorned with banners in HDRF’s signature yellow color and featured yellow roses filling the ornate fountains.
Inside for dinner, guests sat at tables featuring stunning centerpieces made from spheres of yellow roses evocative of the Foundation’s logo. Dinner featured an appetizer of colossal lump crabmeat with cocktail and mustard sauce followed by veal scaloppini marsala with sautéed spinach and whipped potatoes. The dessert was chocolate soufflé with chantilly cream, chocolate sauce and raspberries.
After the first course, Audrey Gruss introduced Mr. Namath as the 20th century football icon and Super Bowl champion, and spoke about how closely their goals align in examining and understanding mind-brain health. Mr. Namath inspired the audience with the story of his own recovery from brain injury as a result of multiple concussions, and fielded several questions from excited guests after his remarks.
Following dinner, Mrs. Gruss delivered heartfelt remarks referencing how HDRF was created to accelerate advanced depression research. She then introduced Louisa Benton, HDRF Executive Director, who gave a brief update on the Foundation’s exciting research progress through the collaborative research of the Depression Task Force of world leading scientists. Three specific new compounds are in clinical trials, Ms. Benton reported, that represent potential new categories of anti-depressants. Ms. Benton then played a brief trailer of a documentary now being made about subject of depression, using the collaborative work of the Depression Task Force as a focus.
Guests included: Gigi and Harry Benson, Jane and George Bunn, Luce Churchill, Mary and Mark Freitas, Candy Hamm, Kate and Hashem Khosrovani, Amb. Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Frances and Jeff Fisher, Muffy and Donald Miller, Susan and Joe Meyer, Lynn Foster and Robert Nederlander, Lucy Musso, Thomas Quick, Gretchen and Howard Leach.
The Palm Beach Chairman’s Council includes Ann and Keith Barish, James Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui, Camilla and Stephen Brauer, Janet & J.J. Cafaro, Pamela Cohen and Nick Korniloff, Annabelle and Denis Coleman Jr., Mary and Marvin Davidson, Diana and Llywd Ecclestone, William Finneran, Myrna Haft, Eleanora Kennedy, Michele and Howard Kessler, Anna Mann, Carole and John Moran, Jana and John Scarpa, Vera and Julio Serrano, Barbara and Randall Smith, Evelyn and William Speck, Lynne Wheat and Thomas Peterffy.
ABOUT HOPE FOR DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Hope for Depression Research Foundation was founded by Audrey Gruss in 2006 to spur cutting-edge neuroscience research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and its related mood and emotional disorders including: bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and suicide. In addition, HDRF aims to raise awareness of depression as a medical illness and to educate the public about the facts of depression. We educate and inform in order to help remove the stigma that still surrounds depression.
