Hadassah LA Metro Spends a Day in the ‘Gilded Age’ Raising Funds for HMO

On August 24, 2022, the Elana Chapter of Hadassah LA Metro hosted a most enjoyable afternoon event. It was the history of fashion from the Gilded Age and modeled by our own gilded Hadassah sisters. What fun!

Elaine Glickman coordinated the costumes from movie studios and the Pasadena Playhouse. A handful of our most outgoing models strutted through a member’s Beverly Hills home and used the garden area is if it were a red carpet. Our hosts, Yael and Abe Hecht, were generous and charming. The food was absolutely “delish” and so plentiful we sold the leftovers to many and made an additional amount beyond the registration fees for the afternoon.

Hadassah member Lee Bernstein. Photo courtesy of Hadassah.

What started out as a 20-count registration became a more than 40-count attendance. In the heat. Lucky we were covered by overhangs in the pleasant backyard before we came inside to eat and gab.

And a point of incidental astonishment was the size of the dining table and the 20 matching dining chairs that fit about half of us comfortably as we made through the buffet lines. Many of us chose to eat al fresco or reposition in the cool living room area.

The Elana Chapter’s Fundraising/Leadership Chair Judy Wilkin spoke of the need for more hospital supplies and rooms at Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel. She dedicated the afternoon to the blessed memory of Adrienne Leevan, whose husband, Bob, was there to help celebrate her memory. Judy’s speech was especially moving. I am sure she helped raise a few dollars more.

After lunch, the runway was opened, and one by one our of fun-loving Hadassah sisters took to the carpet as if they were born to it. The dresses often outweighed the wearers and not a one of us could either remember the show it came from or who wore it. This often led to good laughs. A great lighthearted gathering.

Margie Lunt Alper and Elise Feldscher. Photo courtesy of Hadasah.

Among our distinguished speakers, guests, and models, we had many Hadassah LA Metro movers and shakers: Elise Feldscher, West Coast Campaign Cabinet Chair and Treasurer of B’yachad Group; Margie Lunt Alper, Metro Region Co-President and L’Dor V’Dor South Bay Co-President; Diane Sternfels, Metro Region Major Gifts Chair; Judy Wilkins, Elana Leadership and Fundraising Chair; Lee Berstein and Ann Laeb are Co-Presidents of Elana Group; and Ronnie Gerber, L’Dor V’Dor Membership Chair, Metro Region Publicity Chair.

A fundraising afternoon was enjoyed by all.

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For more information on Hadassah’s world-class medical research hospitals in Israel, visit this link.