P!NK Donates $50K at La Celeb Chef Gala for a total of 1.25 million

Press Release: Autism Speaks to Los Angeles Celebrity Chef Gala

P!NK Donates $50K at AUTISM SPEAKS LA CELEB CHEF GALALOS ANGELES, October 9, 2015 – With the help of 100 award-winning celebrity chefs, Autism Speaks raised $1.25 million at its inaugural Autism Speaks to Los Angeles Celebrity Chef Gala, which took place October 8, 2015 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. More than 600 guests, including Hollywood’s top industry execs and celebrities Conan O’Brien, Al Roker, P!nk and Giada De Laurentiis honored Autism Speaks co-founders Bob and Suzanne Wright and commemorated the organization’s ten years of progress.

Following a cocktail reception hosted by Wolfgang Puck Catering, the program opened with remarks from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who commended The Wrights on their accomplishments over the last ten years and thanked the organization for bringing the New York gala to the West Coast. He then introduced late night comedian Conan O’Brien, who brought the laughs as host of the star-studded fundraiser.

Guests dined on exclusive four-course meals prepared tableside by over 100 of Los Angeles top chefs including Akasha Richmond (SAMBAR), Antonia Lofaso (Scopa Italian Roots), Ben Ford (Ford’s Filling Station), Brian Malarkey (Herringbone), Jet Tila (Food Network) Joachim Splichal (Patina), Michael Voltaggio (Ink) Nancy Silverton (Osteria Mozza). The full list of participating chefs is at autismspeaks.org/LAchefgala.

 

After a heartwarming speech by Curt Harper, a competitive surfer with autism, P!nk performed “Beam Me Up” (off her 2012 album “The Truth About Love”) with the song’s Grammy®-nominated songwriter” Billy Mann, a music executive and a national board member of Autism Speaks.

 

Following P!nk and Billy Mann’s performance, Conan presented Autism Speaks co-founders Bob and Suzanne Wright with the Humanitarian Award. “This award means so much because our work together is truly changing the future for 100 million people worldwide, maybe even more,” said Bob Wright. “We began as small groups, merged into Autism Speaks and now are collaborating with the World Health Organization and more than 70 countries. Moving forward will be about motivating and mobilizing our grassroots base everywhere. And here at home we are collaborating with Google on a groundbreaking genome project called MSSNG. It will give us more than the answers we need about autism.”

Sponsors
Toyota and ION Media Networks served as Executive Chef Sponsors. Discovery Communications and NBCUniversal served as Chef de Cuisines Sponsors. Pastry Chef Sponsors included 20th Century Fox, City National Bank, Fox Audience Strategy, Fox Television Group, FX Networks, Google, Movie Po, Pepper Gate Footwear, Inc., Tommy Cares, Univision and Wolf Films. Many thanks to our Exclusive Airline Sponsor Delta Air Lines, Exclusive Appliance Sponsor Jenn-Air and Exclusive Media Partner Variety. View the full sponsor list at autismspeaks.org/LAchefgala.