Building Medical Bridges in Houston

What: Medical Bridges, “One People, One World” gala

Where: Hotel ZaZa Museum District

PC Moment: As fall officially arrived, the cooler temps brought Houstonians out to enjoy the weather and to participate in philanthropy, of course. More than 300 attended the annual “One People, One World” gala, benefitting Medical Bridges’s efforts toward recovering medical surplus that would otherwise be discarded and redistributing those products to hospitals, clinics and health care providers in less fortunate countries.

Four dynamic chairwomen Kim Weill, Elizabeth Grzebinski, Dolly Dawson Thomas and Elizabeth Kanaly along with  honorary chairs Tony Bradfield and Kevin Black of Tenenbaum Jewelers welcomed guests. KHOU Channel 11 anchor Len Cannon led the evening encouraging attendees to take part in the wine bottle pulls, try their luck on a Tenenbaum Jewelers raffle, and bid on auction items while enjoying the sips and sounds as the evening festivities got underway. The chairs voiced their passion behind the cause, chairing the event for the second year in a row to help those in need of health care.

As the evening continued, the gala celebrated influential difference makers, including the Dr. David Wray Award recipient Elizabeth Kanaly. Ecuador’s Society for Fighting Cancer, SOLCA received the Medical Bridges Corporate Honoree Award. The Global Community Honoree Award recipient, Barbara Pierce Bush, was unable to attend. The appeal directed funds for Medical Bridges supplies to be delivered to people all over the world. Chevron, a long-time supporter, was a contributing presenting sponsor.

The gala closed the evening in a major way, tallying up more than $240,000 raised.

PC Seen: President and CEO of Medical Bridges Dorothy Bolettieri, Mary and Ron Neal, Steven Howard, Gina and Dr. Devinder Bhatia, Denise Castillo–Rhodes and Bob Sergesketter, Mike Weill, Pamela and Hayne Blakely, Drew Kanaly, Marguerite Swartz, Fady Armanious and Deana Blackburn.