Joanna Gleason to Perform at Second Annual 'New York Bag Ladies Luncheon,' 5/4

In its 40th anniversary year, the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation is pleased to present the second annual New York Bag Ladies Luncheon. The event on Tuesday, May 4th, at the elegant 583 Park Avenue in Manhattan will be hosted by Jill Zarin, star of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City.

A highlight of May's Lupus Awareness Month in New York City, the luncheon's silent auction of many of today's most sought-after celebrity and designer handbags will raise funds-and attention-for the fight against the chronic autoimmune disease, systemic lupus.

Guests will have the opportunity to bid on hundreds of bags (at significantly reduced prices) once carried by celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Julianna Margulies, as well as the latest arm candy from Chanel, Gucci, Prada, and other top designers.

Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason will perform "I Hate My Purse!"-a scene from the hit Off-Broadway show Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. Meredith Vieira, Lauren Groff, Andrea Jung, and Jessye Norman will serve as honorary chairs.

The entirety of the auction's proceeds will support the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation's efforts in New York City and around the country to combat lupus-an under-publicized yet widespread, and potentially life-threatening illness. Lupus primarily targets women between the ages of 15 and 44; it is a leading cause of premature heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke among young women.

The luncheon will start with a handbag viewing and silent auction at 11am, followed by lunch from 12:30 to 2pm. Individual tickets start at $250 with tables of eight at $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000. Tickets can be purchased online at LupusNY.org or by phone at 212-685-4118. Advance reservations are required.

Established by New Yorker Susan Golick and her family 40 years ago, the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation aims to stimulate awareness, provide education and support throughout the five boroughs, and fund researchers dedicated to finding new treatments and a cure. In 2000, the Foundation launched the national Lupus Research Institute-the world's leading private supporter of novel research in lupus. While the outlook for people with lupus has improved in the past four decades, the Foundation remains committed to its ultimate goal: life without lupus. Learn more at LupusNY.org.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.), commonly called lupus, is a chronic and potentially fatal autoimmune disorder and one of the nation's least recognized major diseases affecting more than 1.5 million Americans. In lupus, the body's immune system forms antibodies that can attack virtually any healthy organ or tissue, from the kidneys to the brain, heart, lungs, skin, joints and blood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that death rates from lupus are more than five times higher for women than for men and more than three times higher for African Americans than for Caucasians. No major new treatments for lupus have been approved in 50 years.

 

 

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski