A Life Saving Party: Houston Power Woman Leads Cancer Fight in a Very Personal Fundraiser

While many of our town’s charitable fundraisers have special meaning for the chairs and the honorees, few could have held more import for Cora Sue and Harry Mach than the Partnership for Baylor College of Medicine gala which honored Dr. C. Kent Osborne.

“He saved my life,” Cora Sue Mach tells friends. “Without Dr. Osborne and his team, I wouldn’t be here.”

Osborne is director of the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor and was the lead oncologist in Cora Sue’s winning battle against breast cancer.

Thus, there was much to celebrate on this black-tie evening, held in the spanking new ballroom of the recently expanded and renovated Briar Club. The event exceeded its fundraising goals, bringing in $420,332 to be exact. Those funds are earmarked for the cancer center’s Phase 1 clinical trial unit which, among other things, will study new drugs that are first given to humans.

“Our goal with this year’s gala was to raise awareness for a critical piece of the cancer research process, a phase 1 clinical trial,” Harry Mach said, “and to help launch such a program to further our understanding of the disease.”

While the partnership numbers more than 700, a generous 270 signed on for the evening in the Stork Club. The “Café Society Soirée” theme was beautifully interpreted by Richard Flowers and The Events Company team, which employed black and white linens and decor to evoke the famous Manhattan nightclub.

Emcee Lisa Malosky welcomed a coterie of key players to the stage — the Machs, partnership board chair Peggy Carrington, college president CEO and executive dean Dr. Paul Klotman, and Osborne.

Stepping out in Stork Club style: Joella and Steve Mach, Carmen and Butch Mach, Jan Duncan, Pat and Harold Korell, John Nau, Sydney and Don Faust, Dr. Mary Klotman, Connie and James Haddox, Dr. Carolina Guitierrez, Tara and David Wuthrich, and Susan and Ed Osterberg.