JDRF Promise Ball

Hi all,

A few entries back I mentioned I am interning at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as a special events and fundrasing intern. Thursday November 17th was the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) Promise Ball! I was very excited to be there and stunned by how beautiful everything was.

The Promise Ball took place at Cipriani Wall Street. The venue was stunning, picturesque and lavish. I felt like I was attending a star studded wedding.

When I arrived at 5:30, my first task was to make sure each table had the correct number of chairs according to the table floor plan my manger handed to me. Around 7:00 is when the majority of the people started showing up for the cocktail reception. During this time, the silent auction was happening and I was helping to answer any questions people had about the items. There were so many amazing items from vacation trips to tickets to the Grammys and everything in-between.

As a former Mets employee I was excited that the master of ceremonies for the evening was Ron Darling, former Mets pitcher and currently a sport commentator. It was nice to see that the master of ceremonies had a personal connection to diabetes. His son has type 1 diabetes and in 2009 Ron started the Ron Darling Foundation to raise money to finding a cure. 

Ron introduced the entrainment of the night, which was Four Stars from the Original Cast of Jersey Boys. They sang us into our appetizer and throughout entree. On that note, dinner and desert was exceptionally delicious!

 There is still so much to tell you guys!!!! The night also had the 2011 Award of Distinction Recipient, an emotional video of kids, adults and teenagers talking about their type 1 story, a live auction and lastly a bid to cure diabetes finale. For the finale they brought out adorable children who are diagnosed with the disease, and as each child came out they were holding a sign with a different amount for bidders to bid on. The first child came out showcasing a $50,000 sign and there was one bidder for that amount! The next levels followed $25,000, $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, $1,000 and lastly $500. More and more bidders participated as the levels went down. The total amount raised for the finale was just shy of half a million dollars!!!!!

One side of the dinning area

Four Stars from the Original Cast of Jersey Boys

Silent Auction