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| Lauren and David Lauren with Sam Waterston |
by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Photo credit: Neshan H. Naltchayan
It was a night for all the do-gooders in the world to unite in
celebration on the occasion of the 33rd Refugees International
Anniversary Dinner. Congressmen, diplomats, philanthropists and
activists gathered at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
to toast another year's hard work for Refugees International (RI) and to
honor some stand-out supporters of the cause, including Lauren
Bush Lauren.
It was a mix of political and Hollywood star-power
for the evening, celebrating RI's global mission which "advocates for
lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes
solutions to displacement crises."
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| Actor Matt Dillon |
Actor Matt Dillon, who has been a longtime supporter of RI and sits on their board, acted as the master of cermonies for the evening. Also on hand was Law & Order's Sam Waterston who took to the stage and declared, "I had to give remarks so I won't be confused with the wait staff"--after accidently wearing a tuxedo to the cocktail attired event. Waterston is the vice chair of RI and has been working with the cause for more than 20 years, so the 'error' was easily excused by the crowd.
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| The Ambassador of Japan and Mrs. Fujisaki |
Honorary Chair for the evening, H.E. Ambassador of
Japan Ichiro Fujisaki, warmed up the crowd as he discussed the work of RI
and shared with the attendees that it was his 25th wedding
anniversary........then correcting himself, that it was actually his 35th
anniversary leading to chuckles from the room and his wife who was
standing by. "Ambassadors, please prepare your super PACs" he joked, as
he explained to the other diplomats in the room that whoever would want
to take over the role of honorary chair would have to go through a
primary and election process.
Lauren Bush Lauren, the 2012 recipient of the
McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award was equally light hearted as she
took the the stage to accept the honor. "He said I'm the Forrest Gump of
philanthropy" said Lauren of her husband David's reaction to hearing
about the award.
Lauren talked about her time visiting settlements in
Chad and around the world and the heartbreaking encounters with people
who had been displaced from their homes and families. She recalled
seeing postings for missing family members that she likened to the
posters we are used to seeing for lost pets and she talked about how
much this stuck with her.
Lauren's honor goes beyond just her travels with RI and also stems from her work with her company FEED, which she started in
2006.
"What can the every day young person do? That's when I came up
with FEED." FEED combined Lauren's love of fashion with activism by
creating unique bags and accessories that would raise funds to feed
people world wide.
One bag feeds a child in school for a year and to
date the organization has provided more than 60 million meals to
children around the world. For the evening, Lauren sported one of her
own signature purses, a clutch called the FEED 1000 bag--the proceeds
from each will provide 1,000 school meals for children through the UN
World Food Programme's School Feeding initiative.
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| Queen Noor and Lauren Bush Lauren |
Lauren was presented her award by renowned
humanitarian H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan.
Lauren described that backstage
the Queen shared: "She actually has a FEED bag, which makes my night."
It's a small world after all and if we band together...it's easy to see how we can make a difference.
